Philip De Jager
Dr. Philip De Jager is the Weil-Granat Professor of Neurology at Columbia University Medical Center, where he is the Chief of the Division of Neuroimmunology. The division consists of the Columbia Multiple Sclerosis Center, the Clinical Neuroimmunology Service, and the Center for Translational & Computational Neuroimmunology. His team is focused on characterizing and modulating the immune system in inflammatory diseases, neurologic complications of immunotherapy, and neurodegenerative diseases. He also serves as the Deputy Director of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain.
After completing Yale University Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry as well as Medieval French literature, Dr. De Jager received a Ph.D. in Neurogenetics from Rockefeller University and an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College. He then completed his M.M.Sc. in Clinical Investigation at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and MIT. Dr. De Jager served as a neurology resident in the Partners Neurology program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He then joined the faculty at HMS, rising to the rank of Associate Professor before joining Columbia. He has been recognized for his leadership in the field of multiple sclerosis research with both the Harry Weaver Neuroscience Scholar Award (2008) and the Barancik Award for Innovation in MS Research (2014) by the National MS Society.
As the leader of a 2019 study of over 115,000 participants, he produced a genome map of multiple sclerosis susceptibility showing that microglia and many different immune cells, not just T cells, are involved in triggering multiple sclerosis. He has created several novel resources to support MS research, including the GEMS study of first degree relatives to understand the onset of MS and, with two colleagues, the new National MS Brain Bank supported by the NMSS. He is also a leader of one of the five teams that comprise the Accelerating Medicine Partnership for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), and he is one of the leaders of the NIA-funded AD Functional Genomics consortium, leading its flagship xQTL map of the aging brain to analyze the functional consequences of genetic variation that contribute to susceptibility for AD. These and other projects enable the implementation of novel precision neurology approaches to develop new therapeutic targets prioritized to prevent the onset of neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation.
Overall, the goal of Dr. De Jager’s work as a clinician-scientist is to apply modern methods of human immunology, genomics, molecular genetics and computational biology to the understanding and treatment of common neurodegenerative diseases.