Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience
616 Biomedical Research Tower
460 W. 12th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210
Phone: (614) 293-6810
Fax: (614) 292-7544
Hongjun.Fu@osumc.edu
Research Focus
One of the fundamental questions common to all of the neurodegenerative diseases is why a particular disease targets specific neuronal populations? Dr. Fu’s research focuses on understanding which subtypes of neurons are vulnerable to tau pathology in early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other tauopathies as well as the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the selective neuronal vulnerability. In particular, they are interested in investigating the role of cell-autonomous (neurons) versus cell non-autonomous (microglia, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes) effects as well as aging in selective vulnerability to proteinopathies in neurodegenerative diseases.
Approaches
We utilize a multidisciplinary approach that combines neuropathology, mouse genetics, neurobehavioral tests, confocal and light-sheet microscopy, molecular and cell biological approaches together with single cell RNA-seq and spatial transcriptomic analysis.
Education and Training
PhD: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Postdoc: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, The Jackson Laboratory, and Columbia University