AAIC 2022 | Deep molecular profiling to identify new genetic variants and drug targets in Alzheimer’s disease

Carlos Cruchaga, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, and his team are focused on the identification and characterization of genetic variants implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). By leveraging multi-tissue multi-omic data for deep molecular profiling, the hope to identify novel variants, drug targets, and biomarkers. Currently, the team are using genome-wide association studies and exome-chip data to identify variants/pathways associated with cerebrospinal (CSF) levels of known AD biomarkers. Dr Cruchaga explains how Mendelian Randomization and a novel network-based approach will be tied into these findings to identify causal variants involved in AD, and analytes that can predict AD risk, age at onset, or rate of disease progression. This interview took place at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2022 in San Diego, CA.