Dr. Chiba-Falek is a Professor and Chief of the Division of Translational Brain Sciences in the Department of Neurology at Duke University School of Medicine and holds a secondary Professor appointment in the Department of Pathology. In addition, she is affiliated with Duke/UNC ADRC and a faculty member in several other Duke centers including, Genomic and Computational Biology (GCB) and the Institute for Brain Sciences (DIBS). She received her PhD in Genetics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem before pursuing her postdoctoral training at the NIH. Dr. Chiba-Falek joined the faculty at Duke University in 2007. She has 25+ years of experience in genetics, functional genomics, molecular biology, bioinformatics, and neuroscience with expertise in neurodegeneration and translational biomedical research. Dr. Chiba-Falek’s lab studies the genetic complexity and epigenomic landscape of age-related neurodegenerative diseases in diverse populations, with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease (AD), related dementia, Parkinson’s disease (PD), and other Lewy body disorders. Her research program is translational and combined in vitro and in vivo preclinical studies towards the development of new genetic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for AD-PD spectrum disorders. Recently Dr. Chiba-Falek Co-Founded CLAIRIgene, an early-stage startup company committed to bring gene-targeted epigenome therapies for unmet medical needs in CNS disorders with a focus on neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Chiba-Falek has published over 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Her research has been continuously funded and she is the PI of several NIH, private foundations, pharmaceutical industry, and philanthropy grants. She currently also serves at the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Neurodegenerative Disorders Research Center (INDRC). and as Co-Chair the Neuropsychiatric Syndromes PIA Genomics Work Group, and the Alzheimer’s Association Business Consortium (AABC), Dr. Chiba-Falek was a recipient of several awards including, the Raine Visiting Professor Award in 2020.
