Dr Wei Luan

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Queensland Brain Institute
w.luan@uq.edu.au
+61 7 334 66362

Overview

Dr Luan is the postdoctoral fellow of Neurodegenerative Pathobiology laboratory in Queensland Brain Institute. Dr Luan's research aims to understand the molecular and cellular mechanism for human neurodegenerative diseases, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD). His research focuses on the cellular stress responses and novel biochemical pathways in the pathogenesis of these diseases. Dr Luan will use biochemical, immunohistochemistry and AAVs techniques in a well-established pre-clinical transgenic mouse model. His goal is to discover new potential therapeutic targets in order to help patients who suffer these diseases.

Research Interests

  • Drug discovery for motor neuron disease
    Dr Luan is the postdoctoral fellow of Neurodegenerative Pathobiology laboratory in Queensland Brain Institute. Dr Luan's research aims to understand the molecular and cellular mechanism for human neurodegenerative diseases, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD). My research focuses on the cellular stress responses and novel biochemical pathways in the pathogenesis of these diseases. My goal is to discover new potential therapeutic targets in order to help patients who suffer these diseases.
  • Characterisation of non-motor phenotypes in transgenic mice for motor neuron disease
    Dr Luan's research aims to understand the molecular and cellular mechanism for the cognitive and behavioral changes of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD). My research focuses on the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of these non-motor dysfunction. My goal is to discover new potential therapeutic targets in order to reverse cognitive and behavioral abnormalities in patients who suffer these diseases.

Research Impacts

Dr Luan is an enthusiastic neuroscientist at Queensland Brain Institute.Dr Luan's research covers a unique range of human neuropsychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. His previous research in rodent models provides first-hand in vivo evidence that vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy significantly disrupts the neurodevelopment of dopamine neurons, essential to the normal brain and involved in a variety of human neuropsychological disorders. Dr Luan's follow-up studies utilising a dietary form of vitamin D in pregnant rodent models successfully prevents the behavioural abnormalities of high relevance to schizophrenia and autism, suggesting a promising strategy in the prevention of offspring from adverse psychiatric outcomes. Dr Luan has recently joined the worldly-recognised neurodegeneration pathobiology lab led by Dr Adam Walker at QBI. He has been actively employing cutting-edge biochemistry, microscopy and well-established mouse model systems to investigate the molecular causes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)/motor neuron disease (MND) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Dr Luan's research focuses on the cell stress response that is activated rapidly in mice of MND/FTD and will characterise new protein targets to prevent, treat, and cure these devastating diseases.

Qualifications

  • Doctoral Diploma of Natural Science, University of the Chinese Academy of Science

Publications

View all Publications

Grants

View all Grants

Publications

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Completed Supervision