Our lab employs a combination of molecular, cellular, genetic, and behavioral approaches to dissect pathogenic mechanisms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Using Drosophila, mouse models, and patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), we aim to identify key underlying pathogenic pathways as potential targets for therapeutic interventions.

Dr. Gao is currently the Paul Cellucci Chair in Neuroscience Research, Professor of RNA Therapeutics, and Professor of Neurology at the UMass Chan Medical school. He received his PhD degree studying Neuronal RNA-binding proteins from Duke University and did postdoctoral trainings at University College London (UCL) and University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He started his own lab at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease at UCSF in 2000 and moved to UMass Chan in 2010. Dr. Gao received a Jacob Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from the NINDS/NIH and a McKnight Neuroscience of Brain Disorders Award from the McKnight Foundation. He was also a Sloan Research Fellow in Neuroscience and a Klingenstein Fellow in Neuroscience.