Lab Members
Falak Sher, PhD
Assistant Professor,
Department of Neurology, Columbia University
E-mail: fs2644@cumc.columbia.edu
Postdoc 2017, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA; Functional genomics and gene editing
Ph.D. 2011, University of Groningen, Groningen The Netherlands; Stem Cell Biology, Restorative Therapy
Predoctoral training, 2005 ( master’s thesis), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam & The Netherlands Institute For Brain Research, Amsterdam the Netherlands; Genetic Variations & Risk For Neurodegeneration
Imdadul Haq, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
E-mail: ih2371@cumc.columbia.edu
Imdadul received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Dhaka (Bangladesh), M.S. in Biology, and Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from East Tennessee State University. His Ph.D. research was focused on studying biochemical lipid processes that alleviate plants from stresses related to changes in temperature and hydration. His work specifically focused on deciphering metabolic pathways of anandamide – a neurotransmitter – in Physcomitrella patens. During his Ph.D., he received hands-on training in proteomics from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and bioinformatics from the National Center for Genomic Resources. Currently, using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology, he is examining the function and phenotype of immune cells that are associated with several neurological diseases, especially Alzheimer’s disease.
Nainika Roy
Ph.D. Candidate
E-mail: nr2673@cumc.columbia.edu
Nainika is a PhD candidate in the Neurobiology & Behavior program at Columbia University. She received her B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and a minor in Informatics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her undergraduate research investigated compounds with therapeutic potential in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and she then worked on projects developing targeted protein-guided laser ablation to control itch and inflammatory pain at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Rome, Italy. At Columbia, Nainika investigates the role of AD-associated genes expressed in microglia to understand how variants in those genes can lead to altered microglial function and pathogenic or protective effects in the AD context.
Jason Ngo
Research Technician
E-mail: jcn2144@cumc.columbia.edu
Jason received his Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from the University at Buffalo in 2021. During his undergrad, Jason investigated the factors that influence the phase behavior of intrinsically disordered proteins, which are often involved in many neurodegenerative diseases. Jason has joined Sher’s Lab to research the functional genomics of neurodegeneration and hopes to one day become a physician-scientist.
Sher Lab 