Affiliations
Assistant Member, Monell Chemical Senses Center
NINDS K99/R00 Fellow
Senior Schmidt Science Fellow
Education
Ph.D. Bioengineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Research Summary
My laboratory focuses on exploring common mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases including ALS, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. Using stem cell–derived human neurons that capture both early and late disease features, combined with single-molecule imaging, electrophysiology, live-cell imaging, and multi-omics, the lab maps RNA–protein interaction networks and identifies points where many different disease genes converge on shared pathways.
The overarching aims are to (1) define how RNA metabolism and protein homeostasis go awry across multiple neurodegenerative diseases, (2) uncover common molecular mechanisms that link diverse genetic risk factors, and (3) build patient-specific platforms for drug discovery and screening. These insights are being translated into therapeutic strategies, including antisense oligonucleotide approaches and other targeted interventions, with the long-term goal of developing broadly applicable treatments that can be tailored to a person’s genetic background.
Keywords
proteomics, transcriptomics, neuroscience, neurodegeneration and regenerative medicine, neurodegeneration and aging
Representative Publications
Le P., Lal N. K., Xu S., Mumford S., Huang M., Yang D., Mizrahi O., Hoover B., Mei Y., Rothamel K., Her H., Blue S., Shneider N., Yeo G. W. KIF5A binds RNA to orchestrate synaptic mRNA localization and stress granules in ALS. Nature Neuroscience (In Revision). https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.31.685813. (2025).
Lal N. K., Le P., Aggarwal S., Zhang A., Wang K., Qi T., Pang Z., Yang D., Nudell V., Yeo G. W., Banks A., Ye L. Xiphoid Nucleus of the Midline Thalamus Controls Cold-Induced Food Seeking. Nature. 621, 138-145 (2023).
Le P., Ahmed N., Yeo G. W. Illuminating RNA Biology Through Imaging. Nature Cell Biology. 24, 815-824. (2022).
Le P., Vaidya R., Smith L.D., Han Z., Zahid M.U., Winter J., Sarkar S., Chung H.J., Perez-Pinera P., Selvin P.R., and Smith A.M. Optimizing Quantum Dot Probe Size for Single-Receptor Imaging. ACS Nano. 14, 7, 8343-8358. (2020).
Le P., Lim S.J., Baculis B.C., Chung H.J., Kilian K.A., Smith A.M. Counting Growth Factors in Single Cells with Near-Infrared Quantum Dots. Nature Communications. 10 (2019).
