Benjamin Wolozin, MD, PhD
Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Anatomy & Neurobiology

MD/PhD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
BA, Wesleyan University



Dr. Wolozin has extensive research experience in the field of neurodegenerative disease. His research investigates the pathophysiology of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

His research examines molecular and cellular aspects of disease, and he has extensive experience in molecular neuropathology. His work utilizes studies of human tissues as well as a variety of transgenic models including mice, primary neurons and cell lines. Dr. Wolozin has extensive experience in cell culture, including iPSCs, primary cultures of hippocampal and cortical neurons and cell lines. The lab has increasingly worked with iPSCs particularly focusing on development and application of the human 3D iPS-Neuron/Astrocyte assembloids that rapidly develop Alzheimer pathology.

Dr. Wolozin’s research on the role of stress granules in neurodegenerative diseases is a major focus of his laboratory. A growing body of evidence, including work from the Wolozin laboratory, increasingly highlights the important contributions of RNA binding proteins (RBPs) and translational regulation in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disease. This field of research has occupied a correspondingly increasing footprint on the Wolozin laboratory research portfolio. This work has prompted concepts that are changing our understanding of protein association and disease processes; terms such as “regulated protein aggregation”, “membraneless organelles” or “liquid-liquid phase separation”, provide a theoretical framework for understanding the biology of neurodegenerative disease, as well as new directions for therapeutic intervention for tauopathies and other neurodegenerative diseases. RBPs are regulated through formation of membraneless organelles, which brings aggregation prone proteins together at high concentrations. The process is designed to respond to transient stresses in a transient, dynamic manner. The membraneless organelles that for during transient stress are termed “stress granules”. Chronic metabolic or environmental stress (and aging) lead to persistence of these stress granules, allowing time for protein aggregation to occur, which then drives disease. These persistent stress granules (as well as other persistent membraneless organelles) ultimately serve as the nidus for formation of the pathology present in diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

The Wolozin Lab has developed methods to analyze the pathological RNA granules and stress granules that accumulate in brain diseases. Through his research we have demonstrated an important role for RNA binding proteins in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease, demonstrating that reducing the RNA binding proteins, such as TIA1 or HNRNPA2B1, block the accumulation of a type of pathology that accumulates in neuron in the Alzheimer’s disease brain. Recently, Dr. Wolozin’s laboratory has focused on the role played by post-transcriptional modifications of RNA in the translational stress response and the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases. The studies led to identification of major increases in RNA methylation in AD & ADRD, and are leading to investigation of novel disease-linked functions of RBPs that regulate methylated mRNA, termed m6A, as well as the many ncRNAs that are preferentially methylated in disease. Dr. Wolozin’s laboratory has also been studying noncoding RNAs in collaboration with Dr. Xiaoling Zhang. We recently identified disease-linked changes in circRNA levels, and are determining the functional attributes of these circRNA.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

My lab is a highly diverse laboratory with lab members of many different backgrounds and ethnicities. Recent lab members have come from the USA, Peru, India, Nigeria, China, the Dominican Replublic, the Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey and Malaysia/Hong Kong.


APOE Genotype Mediated Effects on Alzheimer Disease Risk and Mechanisms
09/15/2024 - 06/30/2029 (Multi-PI)
PI: Benjamin Wolozin, MD, PhD
NIH/National Institute on Aging
1U01AG082665-01A1

The role of N6-methyladenosine modified RNA in Alzheimer's disease
12/15/2022 - 11/30/2027 (Multi-PI)
PI: Benjamin Wolozin, MD, PhD
NIH/National Institute on Aging
5R01AG080810-02

Functional epitranscriptomic profiling of m6A RNA modifications in Alzheimer's Disease
08/19/2024 - 08/18/2026 (Key Person / Mentor)
NIH/National Institute on Aging
1F31AG090051-01

Circular RNAs and their interactions with RNA-binding proteins to modulate AD-related neuropathology
07/01/2021 - 06/30/2026 (Multi-PI)
PI: Benjamin Wolozin, MD, PhD
NIH/National Institute on Aging
5U01AG072577-04

Nanobodies targeting stress granule components
09/01/2023 - 08/31/2025 (Subcontract PI)
University of Connecticut NIH NIA
1R21AG083761-01

Genetic Modifiers of Protein Interaction Networks in Tauopathy
08/01/2019 - 03/31/2025 (Multi-PI)
PI: Benjamin Wolozin, MD, PhD
NIH/National Institute on Aging
5R01AG064932-05

Exploring the pathophysiology of AD and ADRDs with 3D Asteroid models
09/15/2021 - 08/31/2024 (Multi-PI)
PI: Benjamin Wolozin, MD, PhD
NIH/National Institute on Aging
1R56AG074591-01

Systems-level functional proteomics analysis assemblies in Alzheimer's disease and mouse models of tauopathy
02/15/2019 - 06/30/2024 (Multi-PI)
PI: Benjamin Wolozin, MD, PhD
NIH/National Institute on Aging
1RF1AG061706-01

Development of synthetic gene feedback circuits to prevent tau aggregation
02/01/2020 - 01/31/2024 (Multi-PI)
PI: Benjamin Wolozin, MD, PhD
Bright Focus Foundation


Capturing the molecular complexity of Alzheimer's disease through the lens of RNA binding proteins
06/01/2018 - 08/31/2023 (Multi-PI)
PI: Benjamin Wolozin, MD, PhD
NIH/National Institute on Aging
3RF1AG056318-01A1S1

Showing 10 of 41 results. Show All Results


Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2025 Development of a novel oral brain penetrant therapeutic for ALS disease 1R44NS141531-01A1
2025 APOE Genotype Mediated Effects on Alzheimer Disease Risk and Mechanisms 5U01AG082665-02
2025 The role of N6-methyladenosine modified RNA in Alzheimer's disease 5R01AG080810-03
2024 APOE Genotype Mediated Effects on Alzheimer Disease Risk and Mechanisms 1U01AG082665-01A1
2024 The role of N6-methyladenosine modified RNA in Alzheimer's disease 5R01AG080810-02
2024 Circular RNAs and their interactions with RNA-binding proteins to modulate AD-related neuropathology 5U01AG072577-04
2024 Circular RNAs and their interactions with RNA-binding proteins to modulate AD-related neuropathology 3U01AG072577-04S1
2024 Development of a novel Alzheimer's disease therapeutic targeting tau 2R44AG060843-04
2023 The role of N6-methyladenosine modified RNA in Alzheimer's disease 1R01AG080810-01
2023 The role of N6-methyladenosine modified RNA in Alzheimer's disease: Equipment Supplement 3R01AG080810-01S1
Showing 10 of 74 results. Show All Results

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. Chakraborty P, Ibáñez de Opakua A, Purslow JA, Fromm SA, Chatterjee D, Zachrdla M, Zhuang S, Puri S, Wolozin B, Zweckstetter M. GSK3ß phosphorylation catalyzes the aggregation of tau into Alzheimer's disease-like filaments. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Dec 24; 121(52):e2414176121.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39693350; PMCID: PMC11670061; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2414176121;
     
  2. Webber CJ, van de Spek SJF, Cruz AL, Puri S, Zhang C, Aw JTM, Papadimitriou GZ, Roberts R, Jiang K, Tran TN, Zhang L, Taylor A, Wang Z, Porter J, Sotiropoulos I, Emili A, Silva J, Li H, Wolozin B. TIA1 Mediates Divergent Inflammatory Responses to Tauopathy in Microglia and Macrophages. bioRxiv. 2024 Nov 07.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39574689; PMCID: PMC11580906; DOI: 10.1101/2024.11.06.622325;
     
  3. Rondón-Ortiz AN, Zhang L, Ash PEA, Basu A, Puri S, van der Spek SJF, Wang Z, Dorrian L, Emili A, Wolozin B. Proximity labeling reveals dynamic changes in the SQSTM1 protein network. J Biol Chem. 2024 Sep; 300(9):107621.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39098523; PMCID: PMC11401034; DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107621;
     
  4. Jiang L, Roberts R, Wong M, Zhang L, Webber CJ, Libera J, Wang Z, Kilci A, Jenkins M, Ortiz AR, Dorrian L, Sun J, Sun G, Rashad S, Kornbrek C, Daley SA, Dedon PC, Nguyen B, Xia W, Saito T, Saido TC, Wolozin B. ß-amyloid accumulation enhances microtubule associated protein tau pathology in an APPNL-G-F/MAPTP301S mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Front Neurosci. 2024; 18:1372297. PMID: 38572146; PMCID: PMC10987964; DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1372297;
     
  5. Rondón Ortiz AN, Zhang L, Ash PEA, Basu A, Puri S, van der Spek SJF, Dorrian L, Emili A, Wolozin B. Proximity labeling reveals dynamic changes in the SQSTM1 protein network. bioRxiv. 2023 Dec 13.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38168279; PMCID: PMC10760047; DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.12.571324;
     
  6. Webber CJ, Murphy CN, Rondón-Ortiz AN, van der Spek SJF, Kelly EX, Lampl NM, Chiesa G, Khalil AS, Emili A, Wolozin B. Human herpesvirus 8 ORF57 protein is able to reduce TDP-43 pathology: network analysis identifies interacting pathways. Hum Mol Genet. 2023 Oct 04; 32(20):2966-2980.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37522762; PMCID: PMC10549787; DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddad122;
     
  7. Park J, Wu Y, Shao W, Gendron TF, van der Spek SJF, Sultanakhmetov G, Basu A, Castellanos Otero P, Jones CJ, Jansen-West K, Daughrity LM, Phanse S, Del Rosso G, Tong J, Castanedes-Casey M, Jiang L, Libera J, Oskarsson B, Dickson DW, Sanders DW, Brangwynne CP, Emili A, Wolozin B, Petrucelli L, Zhang YJ. Poly(GR) interacts with key stress granule factors promoting its assembly into cytoplasmic inclusions. Cell Rep. 2023 Aug 29; 42(8):112822.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37471224; PMCID: PMC10528326; DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112822;
     
  8. Zhao J, Jiang L, Matlock A, Xu Y, Zhu J, Zhu H, Tian L, Wolozin B, Cheng JX. Mid-infrared chemical imaging of intracellular tau fibrils using fluorescence-guided computational photothermal microscopy. Light Sci Appl. 2023 Jun 15; 12(1):147. PMID: 37322011; PMCID: PMC10272128; DOI: 10.1038/s41377-023-01191-6;
     
  9. Jiang L, Roberts R, Wong M, Zhang L, Webber CJ, Kilci A, Jenkins M, Sun J, Sun G, Rashad S, Dedon PC, Daley SA, Xia W, Ortiz AR, Dorrian L, Saito T, Saido TC, Wolozin B. Accumulation of m6A exhibits stronger correlation with MAPT than ß-amyloid pathology in an APPNL-G-F /MAPTP301S mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Res Sq. 2023 May 18. PMID: 37292629; PMCID: PMC10246280; DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2745852/v1;
     
  10. Jiang L, Roberts R, Wong M, Zhang L, Webber CJ, Kilci A, Jenkins M, Sun G, Rashad S, Sun J, Dedon PC, Daley SA, Xia W, Ortiz AR, Dorrian L, Saito T, Saido TC, Wolozin B. Accumulation of m 6 A exhibits stronger correlation with MAPT than ß-amyloid pathology in an APP NL-G-F /MAPT P301S mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. bioRxiv. 2023 Mar 28. PMID: 37034774; PMCID: PMC10081259; DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.28.534515;
     
Showing 10 of 216 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 216 publications over 41 distinct years, with a maximum of 11 publications in 2020

YearPublications
19801
19811
19822
19861
19874
19882
19901
19911
19926
19937
19943
19954
199610
19974
19985
19994
20006
200110
20026
20035
200410
20054
20068
20073
20083
20093
20108
20117
201210
20136
20146
20154
20167
20177
20187
20198
202011
20216
20222
20239
20244

2017 Boston University: Spivack Award: Distinguished Scholar in Neuroscience
2016 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): Fellow
2016 New Economy Magazine, World Media Group: Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals Inc., “Most innovative company in neurodegeneration research, 2016”
2013 Alzheimer Association: Zenith Award
2013 Boston University School of Medicine: Evans Center DOM Collaborator of the Year Award: Basic Sciences
2000 Loyola University Dept. of Pharmacology: Faculty of the Year
2000 Loyola University Medical Center: Graduate School Faculty of the Year
1993 Society for Biological Psychiatry: A. E. Bennett Award
1988 Society for Neuroscience: Donald B. Lindsley Prize

Available to Mentor as: (Review Mentor Role Definitions):
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Contact for Mentoring:

72 E. Concord Street
Boston MA 02118
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