Dr. Cruchaga research is focused on leveraging human multi-omic data (genetic, genomics, proteomics, epigenomics, lipidomis and others) and deep clinical phenotypes from large and well characterized neurodegenerative diseases (i.e: Alzheimer, Parkinson, Frontotemporal dementia) cohorts in order to identify novel genes, pathways, molecular biomarkers and drug targets for these diseases.
Dr. Cruchaga is the current Knight ADRC (https://knightadrc.wustl.edu/) and DIAN (www.dian-info.org/) genetics core director, and the founding director of NeuroGenomics and Informatics (https://neurogenomics.wustl.edu/).
His lab generates genetic and omic data for a unique cohorts of Alzheimer and Parkinson disease cohort and uses novel approaches to understand the biological process that lead to disease. Multi-level data integration is already facilitating precision medicine and advancing medicine at the individual patient level. This will lead to the identification of novel disease- associated genes, linking gene variants to human phenotypes, and the use of Mendelian randomization to predict biomarker validity or drug response. These approaches will put us one step closer to not only precision medicine but also precision treatment timing, as we will be able to predict when is the best time for a specific treatment.
In summary, the mission of Cruchaga lab is to leverage genetics, omics and functional genomics studies in neurodegeneration and diseases of the CNS and translate those into improvements in human health through better understanding of the molecular underpinnings of disease.