Laura Cox, PhD

Dr. Laura Cox is an Instructor in Neurology at the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Harvard Medical School and BWH Hospital. She was originally trained as a clinical microbiologist, identifying infectious agents. She then obtained her PhD in the lab of Dr. Martin Blaser, where she found that early-life antibiotics lead to lasting metabolic consequences. To gain experience with models of neurologic disease, she then pursued postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Howard Weiner. She is currently investigating the role of the microbiome in neurologic diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease. She has recently discovered that Bacteroides fragilis increases in aging and can contribute to amyloid plaques in experimental models of Alzheimer’s disease. She is now trying to understand how Bacteroides fragilis, as well as other bacteria, can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease in the hopes of intervening to prevent and treat AD.