Zhongcong Xie, MD, PhD

Dr. Zhongcong Xie joined the Genetics and Aging Research Unit, directed by Dr. Rudy Tanzi, in 2000. Dr. Xie’s research projects are mainly to study genetic, molecular and cellular biology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) neuropathogenesis. Specifically, Dr. Xie conducts RNA interference (RNAi) based studies to functionally characterize the AD associated genes in term of apoptosis, presenilin 1 processing, b-amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing and b-amyloid (Ab) production, the key components of AD neuropathogenesis. Recently, Dr. Xie has been studying the effects of APP adaptor proteins, e.g., X11, Shc, on APP processing and Ab generation.

Dr. Xie is also interested in the studies of Post-Operative Cognition Dysfunctions (POCD), another dementia disorder. His research work also focus on assessing the effects of peri-operative factors, such as hypoxia, hypocapina and anesthetics on cellular apoptosis, APP processing and Ab generation.