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Faculty Profile


Bio - Kayed, Rakez, PhD

    • B.S. Chemistry, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
    • PhD: Organic/Medicinal Chemistry, University of Tübingen, Germany
    • Post Doctoral: Alzheimer’s and Protein misfolding Diseases, University of California, Irvine, CA
    • Neurodegenerative disease pathology and mechanisms (Alzheimer's (AD), Parkinson's (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and other tauopathies)
    • Mechanisms of protein folding and aggregation
    • Molecular mechanisms behind tau oligomer toxicity, propagation, and role in neurodegeneration
    • Immunotherapeutic approaches targeting amyloid and tau oligomers
    • Diagnostics and biomarkers using CSF and other biological samples
    • Amyloid oligomers in amyloidosis, cancer, and diabetes
    • Tau aggregation in traumatic brain injury (TBI)
    • Kayed R, Head E, Thompson JL, McIntire TM, Milton SC, Cotman CW, Glabe CG. Common structure of soluble amyloid oligomers implies common mechanism of pathogenesis. Science. 18; 300(5618):486-9; 2003.
    • Kayed R, Pensalfini A, Margol L, Sokolov Y, Sarsoza F, Head E, Hall J, Glabe C. Annular protofibrils are a structurally and functionally distinct type of amyloid oligomer. J Biol Chem. 13;284(7):4230-7; 2008.
    • Mina EW, Lasagna-Reeves C, Glabe CG, Kayed R. Poloxamer 188 copolymer membrane sealant rescues toxicity of amyloid oligomers in vitro. J Mol Biol. 21;391(3):577-85; 2009.
    • Lasagna-Reeves CA, Castillo-Carranza DL, Guerrero-Muoz MJ, Jackson GR, Kayed R. Preparation and characterization of neurotoxic tau oligomers. Biochemistry. 30;49(47):10039-41;2010.
    • Clos AL., Lasagna-Reeves CA., Castillo-Carranza DL., Sengupta U., Jackson GR., Kelly B., Beachkofsky TM., Kayed R. Formation of immunoglobulin light chain amyloid oligomers in primary cutaneous nodular amyloidosisBritish Journal of Dermatology, 165(6):1349-54, 2011.
    • Lasagna-Reeves CA., Castillo-Carranza DL.., Sengupta U., Clos AL., Jackson GR., Kayed R. Tau oligomers impair memory and induce synaptic and mitochondrial dysfunction in wild-type mice. Mol Neurodegener. 6;6:39; 2011.
    • Lasagna-Reeves CA., Glabe CG, Kayed R. Amyloid-β annular protofibrils evade fibrillar fate in Alzheimer disease brain. J Biol Chem. 286(25):22122-30; 2012.
    • Lasagna-Reeves CA., Castillo-Carranza DL., Sengupta U., Sarmiento J., Troncoso J., Jackson GR., Kayed R. Identification of oligomers at early stages of tau aggregation in Alzheimer's disease. FASEB J. 26(5):1946-59; 2012.
    • Lasagna-Reeves CA., Castillo-Carranza DL., Sengupta U., Guerrero-Munoz MJ., Kiritoshi T., Neugebauer V., Jackson GR., Kayed R. Alzheimer brain-derived tau oligomers propagate pathology from endogenous tau. Sci Rep. 2:700; 2013.
    • Hawkins BE, Krishnamurthy S, Castillo-Carranza DL, Prough DS, Jackson GR, Dewitt DS, Kayed R. Rapid accumulation of endogenous tau oligomers in a rat model of traumatic brain injury: Possible link between TBI and sporadic tauopathies. J Biol Chem. 288(23):17042-50; 2013. 

    For a complete list of publications

    • Warmoth Professorship in Neurology, 2012-
    • International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN), 2011
    • Society for Neuroscience Award, 2003
    • DFG Fellow, 1996
    • Member, Sealy Center for Vaccine Development, 2010
    • Associate  Professor, Department of Neuroscience and Cell biology 2012
    • Member, graduate faculty in Neuroscience Graduate Program, UTMB, Galveston, TX, 2008-
    • Member, Graduate faculty in Cell Biology Graduate Program, UTMB, Galveston, TX, 2007-
    • Member, George and Cynthia Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, UTMB, Galveston, TX, 2007-
    • Member, Society for Neuroscience
    • Member, American Chemical Society
    • Member, Biophysical Society
    • Associate Editor: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (JAD), 2012-
    • Editorial Board Member: Journal of Neurodegenerative Diseases, 2012-.
    • Associate Editor and Editorial Board Member: Frontiers in Dementia, 2010-
    • Session Chair: The Alzheimer's Association International Conference, 2012 and 2013.
    • Invited Guest Editor; International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (IJAD), special issue: Tau protein: Function and Pathology, 2011
    • Reviewer , Alzheimer Association, USA
    • Reviewer, The Technology Foundation STW, Holland
    • Reviewer, Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center (MDRTC)
    • Member, NIH Study section ZRG1 MDCN-C (03) - 2012 and 2013
    • Reviewer, Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology
    • Reviewer, Alzheimer`s Association, UK
    • Reviewer, Medical Research council, UK
    • Reviewer, National Science Center, Poland
    • Reviewer, German-Israeli foundation for scientific research and development