Christopher D. Link

Christopher D. Link is an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder, affiliated with the Institute for Behavioral Genetics. His research focuses on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of age-associated neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

• University: University of Colorado Boulder
• Affiliation: Institute for Behavioral Genetics
• Department: Integrative Physiology
• Email: linkc@colorado.edu

Dr. Link's lab develops Caenorhabditis elegans models expressing human disease proteins (e.g., beta amyloid in AD, TDP-43 in ALS) to identify genetic and molecular pathways driving pathology. These models enable high-throughput screening of modifiers and potential therapeutics, complemented by mammalian cell studies and bioinformatic analysis of deep sequencing data.

Recent publications highlight his work on PKR signaling in sleep regulation (2023), TDP-43 knockdown mechanisms (2023), hydrogen sulfide supplementation (2022), and bisphenol A effects on aging (2022). His lab also investigates protein aggregation, neuroinflammation, and genetic modifiers of neurodegeneration.

The Molecular Biology of Neurodegeneration Lab has contributed to understanding amyloid-β toxicity, TDP-43 functions in chromatin regulation (2018), and stress granule dynamics (2018). Collaborations span biofluid proteomics, induced pluripotent stem cell modeling, and transcriptomic analysis of ALS/FTLD pathologies.