Hornstein Lab
Research
Decoding the Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration
The Hornstein lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science uncovers the genetic and cellular networks that drive neurodegenerative diseases. We focus on the neurogenetics and molecular pathology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We seek to understand fundamental disease biology and to develop the next generation of diagnostics and therapeutics.
A multidisciplinary, data science-driven framework
Computational data science: Utilizing machine learning and AI-powered deep microscopic phenotyping to map organellar changes in CNS cells.
Human-centered disease models: Grounding our research in patient-derived iPSCs and human tissue biopsies to ensure findings translate to human biology.
Multi-modal integration: Bridging the gap between digital pathology, biofluid biomarkers, and high-throughput RNA-seq/proteomics data.
Research frontiers
Investigating the molecular mechanisms of TDP-43 proteinopathy: disease modifiers, downstream effectors, and aberrant RNA pathways (splicing and miRNAs).
Using AI-vision transformers to map the "organellar landscape" of neuronal failure.
Identifying pathways, molecular mechanisms, and therapeutic targets for intervention
Biomarkers: Leveraging machine learning and multi-omics to develop cell-free biomarkers.
