Expert Profile
Frank M. LaFerla
Chancellor’s Professor and Dean
Frank M. LaFerla,Ph.D.,is the dean of the UCI School of Biological Sciences.His research focuses on the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Areas of Expertise
- Learning and Memory
- Alzheimer's Disease
- Molecular Biology
- Neurodegenerative disorders
Biography
Frank M. LaFerla, Ph.D., is the dean of the UCI School of Biological Sciences and a chancellor’s professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior. He joined UCI in 1995 as an assistant professor and later served as chair of Neurobiology and Behavior from 2010 to 2013 and the director of the UCI Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND) from 2009 – 2018.
Dean LaFerla is the current director of the National Institutes of Health funded UCI Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the co-director of the National Institute on Aging funded Model-AD at UCI, a research consortium to develop the next generation of model organisms to evaluate and cure Alzheimer’s disease.
His research focuses on understanding the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease, the most common form of dementia. His scholarly work has had a global influence on the field, as some of the model organisms he has generated have been distributed to over 150 researchers in more than 20 countries throughout the world. He has published more than 200 original peer-reviewed articles and has been listed among the top 1% cited researchers in his field.
Dean LaFerla has received many honors for his research accomplishments throughout his career, including the Promising Work Award from the Metropolitan Life Foundation for Medical Research, the Ruth Salta Investigator Achievement Award from the American Health Assistance Foundation, the Zenith Fellows Award from the Alzheimer’s Association and the UCI Innovators Award. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and an elected member of the American Neurological Association, the American Society for Cell Biology, the International Society for Stem Cell Research and the Society for Neuroscience.
Media
Media Appearances
All about Alzheimer’s: Free conference coming to Irvine
The Orange County Register, 4/15/2023
Opinion: We expect too much from Earth
The Hill, 11/4/2021
EP 1051B - New Mouse Model Provides 1st Platform to Study Late-Onset Alzheimer's
You: The Owner's Manual Podcast, 7/6/2021
Event Appearances
Lessons Learned of Mice (and Men)
UCI MIND 30th Annual SoCal AD Research Conference (Irvine, CA), 1/1/1970
Successful Aging in the Era of Alzheimer’s Disease
Orange County Chapter of Legatus (Newport Beach, CA), 1/1/1970
Winning the War Against Alzheimer’s Disease
Mission Hills Country Club (Rancho Mirage, CA), 1/1/1970
Articles
We expect too much from Earth
The Hill, 1/1/1970
Generation of a humanized Aβ expressing mouse demonstrating aspects of Alzheimer’s disease-like pathology
Nature Communications volume, 1/1/1970
MTH1 and OGG1 maintain a low level of 8-oxoguanine in Alzheimer's brain, and prevent the progression of Alzheimer's pathogenesis
Scientific Reports, 1/1/1970
Animal and Cellular Models of Alzheimer’s Disease: Progress, Promise, and Future Approaches
The Neuroscientist, 1/1/1970
Novel Alzheimer Disease Risk Loci and Pathways in African American Individuals Using the African Genome Resources Panel
JAMA Neurology, 1/1/1970
Model organism development and evaluation for late-onset Alzheimer's disease: MODEL-AD
Alzheimer's Association, 1/1/1970
Education
University of Minnesota
Ph.D., Microbiology, 1990
St. Joseph’s University
B.S., Biology, 1985
Accomplishments
- Distinguished Achievement Award
- Distinguished Faculty Service Award
- Daniel G. Aldrich Jr. Distinguished University Service Award
- Promising Work Award
- Zenith Fellow Award
Affiliations
- American Association for Advancement of Science
- American Neurological Association
- American Society for Cell Biology
- American Academy of Neurology
- International Society for Stem Cell Research
- Society for Neuroscience
Research Grants
NF-κB as a driver of neurotoxic astrocytes in Alzheimer’s disease
NIH/NIA, Our proposal seeks to use newly engineered genetic tools to investigate the hypothesis that chronic activation of astrocytic NF-κB impairs brain function and drives AD pathogenesis. These studies will provide definitive evidence of the pivotal role played by NF-κB in astrocytic function and its potential as a target to treat AD.
Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of California, Irvine
NIH/NIA, The University of California, Irvine Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (UCI ADRC) is strategically located to have a major positive impact as we identify, quantify, and validate factors that influence the risk of AD across the lifespan. The UCI ADRC brings energetic and innovative multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary approaches toward solving this insidious disease, contributes to several national collaborative efforts, and provides key resources to the research community, including studying special populations impacted by the disease, such as underrepresented ethnic groups, adults with Down syndrome, and the oldest-old.
UC Irvine AD Translational Center for Disease Model Resources
NIH/NIA, The focus of this project is to develop the next generation of animal models of Alzheimer’s disease using recently identified genetic risk alleles combined with humanized APP, tau and APOE proteins that should better recapitulate the etiology and progression of human Alzheimer’s disease.