Laura Ibanez, PhD, MS

Dr. Ibanez’s research aims to answer the following question: How can we generate a good biomarker? Aside from high sensitivity and specificity, a good biomarker must be cost-effective so it can be accessible at a population level and be easily repeatable; sensitive to acute or pre-clinical phases of the disease to allow greater therapeutic windows and improve patient management; minimally or non-invasive to minimize patient discomfort and agnostic to ethnic backgrounds. Additionally, a good biomarker should be able to monitor disease progression and response to potential disease-modifying therapies. Her research, based on measuring RNA species in plasma, is designed to address all these issues. RNA is highly dynamic, which is potentially useful for monitoring disease progression and the response to treatment. RNA can be measured by real-time PCR, a cost-effective technique routinely used in clinical laboratories. Plasma is minimally invasive, easily accessible, widely used, and stored in most biobanks. Thus, her research focuses on plasma RNA species quantification and the application of advanced bioinformatics techniques to develop novel biomarkers and to identify novel mechanisms involved in neurodegeneration and acute ischemic stroke. Nothing in her lab would be possible without the support of the team and the study participants.