Allison Kraus

Dr. Allison Kraus is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. She holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Alberta (2011), with postdoctoral training at the NIH Rocky Mountain Laboratories under Dr. Byron Caughey. Her research focuses on self-propagating misfolded protein seeds in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), Parkinson’s, and prion diseases. Key areas include understanding protein aggregation mechanisms, diagnostic assay development (e.g., AD RT-QuIC), and structural studies using cryo-electron microscopy.

Education: PhD in Biochemistry (University of Alberta, 2011); Postdoctoral fellowships at NIH Rocky Mountain Laboratories and University of Alberta under Dr. Marek Michalak.

Research Interests:

• Protein quality control and folding
• Prion protein structure and transmissibility
• Neurodegenerative disease biomarkers
• Ultrasensitive detection assays (RT-QuIC)
• Cryo-EM analysis of protein aggregates

Publications highlight advancements in tau and prion seed detection, structural biology of infectious prions, and therapeutic antibody development. Her work bridges basic science and clinical applications, with a focus on translational neurobiology.