Liang Ma

Assistant Professor/Research

Personal Statement:

Neurodevelopmental disorders (such as schizophrenia) and neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer’s disease) are highly heritable and complex brain disorders. At our lab, our long-term goal is to bridge neurogenetics and neurobiology by identifying risk genes across a spectrum of human brain diseases—and by uncovering how those genes contribute to disease risk.

We specialize in the discovery of causative genomic variants, genes, and alternative transcripts associated with polygenic brain disorders. To do this, we apply cutting-edge genomic and epigenomic tools, including: Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS), Whole-Genome Sequencing (WGS), RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, DNA methylation profiling. Using integrative multi-omics approaches, we have identified schizophrenia risk elements at SNX19 locus (Ma et al. 2019 Molecular Psychiatry) and CYP2D6 locus (Ma et al. 2020 Molecular Psychiatry), and Alzheimer’s disease risk elements (Chen et al. 2024 Molecular Neurodegeneration).

Another major focus of the lab involves functional validation. We perform CRISPR-based genome editing in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are then differentiated into 2D neurons and 3D brain organoids to model disease-relevant mechanisms. This platform enables us to explore how specific genetic alterations impact cellular and molecular pathways in the brain.

Ultimately, our work aims to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of novel risk genes for brain diseases, evaluate their molecular and cellular consequences, advance our understanding of neuropathogenesis and provide potential therapeutic targets.