Circular RNA, a non-coding RNA family enriched in the human brain, has attracted attention by its aging-related biological features and potential clinical applications in neurodegenerative diseases. During her Ph.D. studies, I-Ju Lo focused on the role of circRNAs in multiple Alzheimer’s disease-related brain regions. Integrating the genetics and transcriptomic data, I-Ju Lo identified tissue-specific circRNA changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease severity and discovered the genetic regulation of circRNAs in the disease.

Her results reveal the circRNAs as functional molecules in Alzheimer’s disease and the interaction between genetics and circRNAs. The potential of circRNAs as functional intermediates can help to link the genetic influence to the pathological mechanism.

The PhD study was completed at Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Faculty of Natural Sciences, Aarhus University.

This summary was prepared by the PhD student.

Time: Monday, 19 October 2020 at 14:15
Place: The PhD defence will be held online. To receive a link to the event, please send an e-mail to Ken Howard, kenh@inano.au.dk
Title of PhD thesis: Circular RNAs as the molecular driver of Alzheimer’s disease
Contact information: I-Ju Lo, e-mail: ijulo@inano.au.dk, tel.: +45 5015-6660
Members of the assessment committee:
Associate Professor Tune H. Pers, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Associate Professor Casey S. Greene, Department of Pharmacology, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Associate Professor Ken Howard (chairman), iNANO, Aarhus University, Denmark
Main supervisor:
Professor Jørgen Kjems, iNANO and Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Co-supervisor:
Senior Bioinformatics Scientist Dr. Jamie Hill, Qiagen Aarhus, Denmark
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English

The defence is public.

Due to the coronavirus situation, the PhD thesis will not be available for reading at the offices of the PhD administration. Instead, interested parties may send an e-mail to gradschool.nat@au.dk to receive a digital copy of the PhD thesis. Please note, it may in certain cases be necessary to make an individual arrangement to read the PhD thesis.