Rakez Kayed, PhD, is an expert on amyloid oligomers and their role in neurodegeneration. His discoveries include the development of novel methods and reagents for studying amyloid oligomers. After a successful postdoctoral training at the University of California, Irvine Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, Dr. Kayed joined the University of Texas Medical Branch Department of Neurology in 2007 as an assistant professor. His laboratory at the Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases focuses on understanding the mechanisms of protein misfolding and aggregation using biophysical and biochemical analyses, cell culture, pre-clinical models and human tissues to uncover these mechanisms.

Dr. Kayed’s laboratory has made new discoveries that suggest a critical role of tau oligomers in synaptic dysfunction, cell death and disease progression in Alzheimer’s.