Walk with Wente: Tao Ma
President Wente walks and talks with Dr. Tao Ma about his neuroscience research on the molecular mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome. His goal: finding a cure. “The future is exciting and bright,” Ma said. Students – graduate students and undergraduates – are a key part of his research. “Many times, people think of science as just one person doing it alone…These days, especially for biomedical research, it’s really teamwork.”
More about Tao Ma:
Professor of Internal Medicine – Geriatrics and Translational Neuroscience
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Dr. Ma, associate professor of internal medicine, joined the Wake Forest School of Medicine in 2014. His research focuses on novel molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and seeks to identify potential therapeutic targets or biomarkers for AD and other aging-related cognitive impairments.
Dr. Ma received his medical degree in China and his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and New York University in 2008, working with Drs. Robert Blitzer and Emmanuel Landau. From 2008 to 2010, he was a postdoctoral research fellow with Dr. Gunnar Gouras in the Department of Neurology and Neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University. From 2010 to 2014, he was an assistant research scientist and research assistant professor at the New York University Center for Neural Science.
He has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles. His original research findings on molecular mechanisms in AD have been published in “The Journal of Clinical Investigation,” “The Journal of Neuroscience,” and “Nature Neuroscience,” garnering international attention.
Dr. Ma has won numerous awards. He is a recipient and principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging K99/R00 research grant and the Alzheimer’s Association New Investigator Award. He also serves as the principal investigator of a research grant from the BrightFocus Foundation. He is an associate editor of the “Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.” He is a fellow of the American Neurological Association and a member of the Society for Neuroscience and the New York Academy of Sciences.
Current Projects:
- Roles of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) isoforms in AD. The major goal of this project is to define the signaling pathway associated with AMPK isoforms in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis.
- Roles of protein synthesis in AD. With pharmacological and genetic approaches, the main goal of this project is to define the role of new protein synthesis associated with eEF2 phosphorylation in AD pathogenesis.
- Molecular mechanisms of cognitive impairments and synaptic failure associated with Down syndrome.
Research Highlights
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