Jeffrey K. Yao, PhD, FACB

Dr. Yao is a Research Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, and Research Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, VA Senior Research Career Scientist, and Director of Neurochemistry and Psychopharmacology Laboratory, Highland Drive VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. A multiplicity of theories have been proposed over the years that aim to conceptualize the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disorders, including impaired neurotransmission, viral infections, genetic mutation, energy metabolism deficiency, excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, and others. It is likely that complex disorders such as ALS, Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia are associated with multiple etiologies and pathogenetic mechanisms. In light of the interwoven biochemistry of human organs, identifying a network of multiple interacting biochemical pathways that account for the constellation of clinical and biological features would advance our understanding of these disorders. One such approach is to evaluate simultaneously multiple metabolites in order to uncover the dynamic relations in the relevant biochemical systems. While metabolomics offers simultaneous assaying of large numbers of compounds in complex mixtures, and therefore allowing exploratory, hypotheses-generating 3-dimensional modeling of the data, we have taken metabolomics to both refine our previous explanatory model and also explore new, albeit connected, areas of research. (see publications)