UMCUniversity of Massachusetts Chan Medical School · Neuroscience
Gao Neurodegeneration Lab
Fen-Biao Gao · Worcester, Massachusetts
Research Focus
Dr. Fen-Biao Gao's lab focuses on understanding frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a serious condition that affects behavior and language primarily in younger individuals. They explore the disease using advanced models like fruit flies and neurons derived from stem cells to uncover the genetic and molecular basis of FTD. The ultimate goal is to identify new targets for therapy and to help in the search for effective treatments for this challenging neurodegenerative disorder.
frontotemporal dementianeurodegenerationDrosophilainduced pluripotent stem cellsC9ORF72genetic modifierstherapeutic targetsmolecular pathwaysdisease mechanisms
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate the molecular pathways involved in frontotemporal dementia using Drosophila models.
AIM 02Utilize iPSC-derived neurons to study genetic mutations associated with FTD.
AIM 03Identify toxic proteins produced from the C9ORF72 mutation and their effects on neuronal function.
AIM 04Discover potential therapeutic targets that can modulate disease phenotypes.
AIM 05Characterize the role of TDP-43 depletion in neurodegeneration.
Skills the Lab Values
CRISPRcell culturegenetic screeningtranscriptomic analysisDrosophila geneticsinduced pluripotent stem cell differentiationmolecular biology techniquesimmunostainingdata analysis
Output against the department
Publications158top 47% of dept.315th of 671
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations25ktop 16% of dept.107th 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.