UMCUniversity of Massachusetts Chan Medical School · Neuroscience
Alzheimer's Research and Neuroinflammation Unit
Ying Leong Chan · Worcester, Massachusetts
Research Focus
Dr. Ying Leong Chan's lab at the University of Massachusetts focuses on understanding how exposure to heavy metals, like cadmium, influences Alzheimer's disease. They use innovative human-derived brain models to explore how genetic factors and viral infections, specifically the herpes simplex virus, might interact to accelerate Alzheimer's-related changes in the brain. The work aims to uncover new insights into the disease's causes and develop potential treatment approaches.
Alzheimer's Diseasecadmium exposureviral infectiongenetic variationscerebral organoidsneuroinflammationcellular biomarkersimmunologyRNA sequencingflow cytometry
Research Aims
3AIM 01Examine the impact of cadmium exposure on AD-specific transcriptomic changes in cerebral organoids.
AIM 02Investigate the effects of HSV-1 infection on AD biomarkers in organoids exposed to cadmium.
AIM 03Measure pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in the media of treated organoids to understand immune responses related to AD.
Skills the Lab Values
cerebral organoid cultureinduced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technologyRNA sequencingflow cytometrymultiplex ELISA assaysdata analysisgenetic variant analysisviral infection modelingcell staining techniquesbioinformatics
Output against the department
Publications49bottom 10% of dept.601st of 671
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations2.8kbottom 19% of dept.541st of 671
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.