Explore the spectrum of our research in topics including age-related macular degeneration, Alzheimer disease, substance abuse, sickle cell disease, membranous nephropathy, mental illness, longevity, cancer genetics, epigenetics and developmental genetics.
For biomedical researchers both on campus and off, our program’s Molecular Genetics Core Lab provides services for DNA and RNA extraction, sequencing, genotyping and cell line cultures.
A large multi-ancestry genome-wide study co-authored by BU Biomedical Genetics faculty has identified specific genes that may help explain why cigarette smoking is associated with increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study was published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association (November 2025) and was conducted by BU Biomedical Genetics contributors Dr. Gyungah R. Jun, Dr. […]
The largest gene-expression study in African Americans with Alzheimer's disease reveals overexpression of a gene also implicated in those with white European ancestry. Researchers from Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Massachusetts, looked at RNA sequencing data from post-mortem brain tissue from 207 donors: 125 confirmed Alzheimer's disease cases and 82 controls. ADAMTS2 was the gene with the […]
(Boston)—The prevalence of Alzheimer disease (AD) is approximately two times higher in African Americans (AA) compared to White/European-ancestry (EA) individuals living in the U.S. Some of this is due to social determinants of health such as disparities in health care access and quality of education, biases in testing and higher rates of AD risk factors […]
The second in a three-part series from Medscape Medical News on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on drug discovery and development. Part 1 is about AI's role in designing speedier, more effective clinical trials. Part 3 reports on AI's ability to create new proteins from scratch, streamlining the creation of protein-based therapeutics. Scientists the world over are racing […]
A new study funded by a grant of more than $13 million from the US National Institutes of Health will look into possible genetic reasons why Sephardic Jews are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at younger ages than other people. The project officially launched on May 5 as representatives of partner institutions met at Beilinson Hospital […]
On February 20th, 2024, Boston University's Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Chosun University, Korea signed a memorandum of understanding. Their agreement recorded their intention to promote an academic and research collaboration. The two universities are aiming to collaborate more closely and explore additional ways to mutually benefit from sharing their resources and networks […]
BU researchers are taking on this daunting question through a variety of approaches—and studying how to care for a growing population of people with the disease. Perhaps it starts with a quick memory lapse—a blank space where a loved one’s name should be, or a mysteriously empty key hook right before heading out. These are […]
June 1, 2023 - Study author Dr. Lindsay Farrer, and other researchers including Dr. Donghe Li and Dr. John Farrell, had their article, Novel loci for Alzheimer's disease identified by a genome-wide association study in Ashkenazi Jews, published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia. Farrer and his colleagues conducted a genome-wide association study for AD in […]