Tracy Young-Pearse

Tracy Young-Pearse is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, where she serves as co-leader of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) Nervous System Diseases Program and leads the Young-Pearse lab within the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases.

Her educational background includes:

• Undergraduate degree from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY
• Ph.D. in Genetics from Harvard Medical School's Biomedical and Biological Sciences program (lab of Connie Cepko)
• Postdoctoral fellowship under Dennis Selkoe

Dr. Young-Pearse's research centers on Alzheimer's disease mechanisms and therapeutic target identification using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models derived from over 100 individuals spanning the clinical and neuropathological spectrum of aging. Her lab investigates genes including APP, INPP5D, SORL1, and CLU to understand Aβ secretion, tau phosphorylation, and neuroinflammatory pathways. Concurrently, she explores convergent molecular pathways in autism spectrum disorder and neuropsychiatric conditions through iPSC modeling of genetic disruptions in DISC1, POU3F2, DYRK1A, and SLC9A6, revealing dysregulation in WNT signaling and synaptic function.

No scientific awards were mentioned in the provided text.

The text indicates active research leadership as Principal Faculty and Program Leader in the HSCI Nervous System Diseases Program, though specific advising roles or grant details are not provided. Her work involves extensive collaboration across Harvard-affiliated hospitals and research centers.

Dr. Young-Pearse directs a multidisciplinary laboratory integrating human iPSC-derived neural cell types (neurons, astrocytes, microglia), CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, and multi-omics analyses (single-nucleus RNAseq, TMT-MS) with validation in human tissue and animal models. Her team collaborates within the Harvard Medical School ecosystem through the HSCI and Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases.