Aimee Kao, MD, PhD

Professor in Residence
Department of Neurology
Primary Thematic Area
Neurobiology
Secondary Thematic Area
Human Genetics
Research Summary
Pathophysiology of Neurodegenerative Diseases: Aging, Stress, Lysosomes and Protein Homeostasis.
Mentorship Development

4/2019 - Sharpening your Mentoring Skills (SyMS) with Sharon Milgram (Mission Bay)    
11/2020 - Building Community in the UCSF MSTP 
9/2020 - Mentoring Across Differences
2/2021 - Three Truths and Three Tries: Facing and Overcoming Critical Social Justice Challenges at the Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Levels    
9/2021 - Neuroscience Graduate Program - Disabilities Awareness Training
4/2022 - Setting Expectations with a "Welcome to the Lab" Letter
1/2023 - Faculty Development Training: Supervising People Who Aren't You: Mentoring/Managing Different Work Styles
4/2023 - Supporting Learners in Distress

[email protected]
[email protected]

Despite intensive research efforts, many of the basic mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases remain unclear.  We are tackling this problem by focusing on how aging, stress, gene variants and mutations alter protein homeostasis and lysosome function to predispose to neurodegeneration. Our recent work includes studies on the normal and abnormal metabolism of tau, TDP-43, progranulin and alpha-synuclein with a focus on how they are degraded by the proteases in the lysosome. We also consider how the lysosome function is regulated, including via pH set point and protease maturation.

For a recent overview of some of our work, please watch the video at this link. 

Websites
Kao Lab
UCSF Memory and Aging Center

Publications

Second international symposium on the chaperone code, 2023.

Cell stress & chaperones

Buchner J, Alasady MJ, Backe SJ, Blagg BSJ, Carpenter RL, Colombo G, Gelis I, Gewirth DT, Gierasch LM, Houry WA, Johnson JL, Kang BH, Kao AW, LaPointe P, Mattoo S, McClellan AJ, Neckers LM, Prodromou C, Rasola A, Sager RA, Theodoraki MA, Truman AW, Truttman MC, Zachara NE, Bourboulia D, Mollapour M, Woodford MR

Clinicopathological correlations in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia.

Brain : a journal of neurology

Perry DC, Brown JA, Possin KL, Datta S, Trujillo A, Radke A, Karydas A, Kornak J, Sias AC, Rabinovici GD, Gorno-Tempini ML, Boxer AL, De May M, Rankin KP, Sturm VE, Lee SE, Matthews BR, Kao AW, Vossel KA, Tartaglia MC, Miller ZA, Seo SW, Sidhu M, Gaus SE, Nana AL, Vargas JNS, Hwang JL, Ossenkoppele R, Brown AB, Huang EJ, Coppola G, Rosen HJ, Geschwind D, Trojanowski JQ, Grinberg LT, Kramer JH, Miller BL, Seeley WW

The advantages of frontotemporal degeneration drug development (part 2 of frontotemporal degeneration: the next therapeutic frontier).

Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association

Boxer AL, Gold M, Huey E, Hu WT, Rosen H, Kramer J, Gao FB, Burton EA, Chow T, Kao A, Leavitt BR, Lamb B, Grether M, Knopman D, Cairns NJ, Mackenzie IR, Mitic L, Roberson ED, Van Kammen D, Cantillon M, Zahs K, Jackson G, Salloway S, Morris J, Tong G, Feldman H, Fillit H, Dickinson S, Khachaturian ZS, Sutherland M, Abushakra S, Lewcock J, Farese R, Kenet RO, Laferla F, Perrin S, Whitaker S, Honig L, Mesulam MM, Boeve B, Grossman M, Miller BL, Cummings JL

Frontotemporal degeneration, the next therapeutic frontier: molecules and animal models for frontotemporal degeneration drug development.

Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association

Boxer AL, Gold M, Huey E, Gao FB, Burton EA, Chow T, Kao A, Leavitt BR, Lamb B, Grether M, Knopman D, Cairns NJ, Mackenzie IR, Mitic L, Roberson ED, Van Kammen D, Cantillon M, Zahs K, Salloway S, Morris J, Tong G, Feldman H, Fillit H, Dickinson S, Khachaturian Z, Sutherland M, Farese R, Miller BL, Cummings J