Stephanie Cologna

Stephanie Cologna is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Chicago. Her research focuses on lipidomics, proteomics, and neurodegenerative diseases, with a particular emphasis on understanding metabolic disorders like Niemann-Pick disease and Alzheimer’s. She employs advanced mass spectrometry techniques to study lipid trafficking, biomarker discovery, and therapeutic mechanisms.

Her work bridges chemistry and biology, addressing critical questions in cholesterol metabolism, protein interactions, and disease pathology. Key projects include developing imaging methods for sub-micrometer lipid analysis and identifying novel biomarkers for systemic health conditions. Dr. Cologna’s interdisciplinary approach integrates proteomic and lipidomic data to uncover molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration and metabolic dysfunction.

Her recent studies highlight advancements in understanding NPC1-related lipid dysregulation, tau protein dynamics in cerebrospinal fluid, and the role of PGC1α in metabolic diseases. She collaborates on translational research, including therapeutic targeting of Wnt signaling in colorectal cancer and optimizing AAV gene therapies for lysosomal storage disorders.

Dr. Cologna’s lab also explores applications of mass spectrometry to study ocular surface health, fallopian tube biology, and high-grade serous ovarian cancer. She leads initiatives like the SMART data reporting standard for mass spectrometry imaging, ensuring reproducibility in multi-omic analyses. Her research is funded by grants including the NSF CAREER award for lipid perturbation studies in cell survival.