Dr. Kristel Sleegers is an expert in the complex genetics of Alzheimer’s disease. With a background in medicine and genetic epidemiology she combines state-of-the-art molecular genetics techniques with statistical genetics to identify causal mutations, susceptibility alleles, genetic modifiers as well as genotype-phenotype correlations in a range of biomaterials, to elucidate the molecular underpinnings of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, and to identify targets for improved disease management.

The Kristel Sleegers lab is committed to increase insight in the complex genetics of Alzheimer’s disease and to investigate the translational potential of genetic discovery.

They use genetic-epidemiological methods and advanced genomic technologies to identify molecular mechanisms that can serve as future targets for early detection, prevention and treatment.

Current projects include an in-depth characterization of ABCA7 genetic variation at transcript level in AD; expression and splicing QTL analysis of novel AD risk loci in the frame of the European Alzheimer Disease Biobank (EADB) consortium GWAS project; whole exome sequencing of AD, MCI and intermediate phenotypes in the frame of the European Medical Information Framework for Alzheimer’s Disease Multimodal Biomarker Discovery study (EMIF-AD MBD); and identification of gene expression signatures of functional connectivity and cognitive decline.