Principal investigator

Dr. Lazarov is a Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Lazarov started her scientific career as a graduate student at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. There, she joined the research group of Professor Michal Schwartz, where she studied the cross talk between the immune system and the central nervous system in relation to nerve trauma. She was granted The Feinberg Graduate School Fellowship of Distinction for Outstanding Achievement in Studies and Research and the Feinberg Graduate School Award for Distinguished Ph.D. Students. After graduation she joined the research group of Professor Sangram S. Sisodia at the University of Chicago. Dr. Lazarov studied and characterized multiple aspects of Alzheimer's disease neuropathology. Her pioneering studies showed that in addition to genetics, environmental factors play a major role in the formation of Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Lazarov joined the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2005, where she established a research group that studies mechanisms that cause or exacerbate the development of memory loss and cognitive deterioration in Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Lazarov was awarded the UIC Scholar in 2022. She is the Director of the Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD) graduate training program.