Faculty

Adam Christian Naj, PhD

Assistant Professor of Epidemiology in Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Department: Biostatistics and Epidemiology

Graduate Group Affiliations

Graduate Group in Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Contact information

921 Blockley Hall
423 Guardian Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Office: (215) 746-4180
Fax: (215) 573-1050
Lab: (215) 746-4180

Email:
adamnaj@mail.med.upenn.edu

Publications

Search PubMed for articles

Education:
BA (Biology (Genetics)/Psychology)
University of Chicago, 2000.
PhD (Epidemiology (Human Genetics))
The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2008.

Links
Search PubMed for articles
Collaborator Page for the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP)
Penn Neurodegeneration Genomics Center
NIA Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease Data Storage Site (NIAGADS)
Research Gate
Google Scholar

Permanent link

> Perelman School of Medicine > Faculty > Details

Description of Research Expertise

Dr. Naj is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. His research focuses primarily on the genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and neurodegeneration, including his genome-wide association analyses in the Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC) which resulted in a first-author paper that was the most cited Alzheimer’s study of 2011. Joining Penn in 2012, Dr. Naj has extended his roles in analysis and data management in the ADGC, and has been actively co-leading quality control and case-control analysis working groups in the Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP), which has collected data on nearly 600 whole genomes and more than 10,500 whole exomes of AD cases and controls to identify rare risk-increasing and protective genomic variants contributing to AD. Of late his work has included guiding development of a quality control pipeline for next-generation sequence data as part of the Genomic Center on Alzheimer’s Disease (GCAD). Dr. Naj is also one of several Penn co-founders and organizers of the annual Symposium on Advances in Genetic Epidemiology and Statistics (SAGES), promoting the development of methods to analyze genomic datasets. He has recently expanded his research portfolio to include studies examining genetic loci contributing to multiple neurodegenerative diseases and phenotypes including AD, Parkinson’s disease, and progressive supranuclear palsy, among others, aspiring to identify key genetic contributors to the pathologies underlying neurodgeneration.

Selected Publications

Katsumata Y, Fardo DW, Shade LMP; Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium; Nelson PT.: LATE-NC risk alleles (in TMEM106B, GRN, and ABCC9 genes) among persons with African ancestry. Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology 82: 760-768, August 2023.

Li L, Wu Q, Lundin SK, Naj AC, Gur RC, Rascovsky K, Wolk DA, Tao C, Chen Y: Investigating drug repurposing for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias using electronic health records in the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), Amsterdam, Netherlands July 2023 Notes: Poster presentation.

Janve VA, Archer DB, Eissman JM, Durant A, Mukherjee S, Lee ML, Choi S-E, Scollard P, Trittschuh EH, Mez JB, Bush WS, Fardo DW, Buckley RF, Mormino EC, Kunkle BW, Naj AC, Gifford KA, Cuccaro ML, Cruchaga C, Pericak-Vance MA, Farrer LA, Wang L-S, Schellenberg GD, Haines JL, Jefferson AL, Kukull WA, Albert MS, Keene CD, Saykin AJ, Sperling RA, Mayeux R, Thompson PM, Martin ER, Bennett DA, Barnes LL, Schneider JA, Crane PK, Dumitrescu L, Hohman TJ, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC), Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP): Both clinically informed and brain region agnostic approaches identify neuroimaging derived phenotypes associated with genetically regulated gene expression of late-onset Alzheimer's disease genes. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), Amsterdam, Netherlands July 2023 Notes: Poster presentation.

Below JE, Shaw D, Evans G, Baker JT, Bohlender RJ, Petty A, Petty LE, Roshani R, Lifferth J, Bastarache L, Naj A, Bush W, Darby R, McMillan C, Samuels D, Huff CD: Machine-learning based classification of Frontotemporal dementia in electronic health records for genetic discovery. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), Amsterdam, Netherlands July 2023 Notes: Poster presentation.

Durant A, Mukherjee S, Lee ML, Choi S-E, Scollard P, Trittschuh EH, Mez JB, Bush WS, Kunkle BW, Naj AC, Gifford KA, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC), Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP), Cuccaro ML, Cruchaga C, Hassenstab J, Pericak-Vance MA, Farrer LA, Wang L-S, Haines JL, Jefferson AL, Kukull WA, Keene CD, Saykin AJ, Thompson PM, Martin ER, Bennett DA, Barnes LL, Schneider JA, Crane PK, Albert MS, Johnson SC, Engelman CD, Mayeux R, Vardarajan BN, Dumitrescu L, Hohman TJ: Genetic architecture of multiple domains of cognition among SuperAgers. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), Amsterdam, Netherlands July 2023 Notes: Poster presentation.

Leung YY, Lee W-P, Kuzma AB, Gangadharan P, Nicaretta H, Qu L, Ren Y, Cantwell L, Valladares O, Zhao Y, Iqbal T, Schmidt M, Mena P, Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP), Vardarajan B, Dalgard CS, Kunkle BW, Bush WS, Martin ER, Naj AC, Haines JL, Pericak-Vance MA, Wang L-S, Schellenberg GD : ADSP Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) Release 4 Data Update from Genome Center for Alzheimer's Disease. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), Amsterdam, Netherlands July 2023 Notes: Poster presentation.

Janve VA, Archer DB, Eissman JM, Durant A, Mukherjee S, Lee ML, Choi S-E, Scollard P, Trittschuh EH, Mez JB, Bush WS, Fardo DW, Buckley RF, Mormino EC, Kunkle BW, Naj AC, Gifford KA, Cuccaro ML, Cruchaga C, Pericak-Vance MA, Farrer LA, Wang L-S, Schellenberg GD, Haines JL, Jefferson AL, Kukull WA, Albert MS, Keene CD, Saykin AJ, Sperling RA, Mayeux R, Thompson PM, Martin ER, Bennett DA, Barnes LL, Schneider JA, Crane PK, Dumitrescu L, Hohman TJ, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC), Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP): Predicted gene expression identifies novel tissue-specific gene predictors of memory performance in older adults. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), Amsterdam, Netherlands July 2023 Notes: Poster presentation.

Walters S, Eissman JM, Mukherjee S, Lee ML, Choi S-E, Scollard P, Trittschuh EH, Mez JB, Bush WS, Kunkle BW, Naj AC, Gifford KA, The Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC), The Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP), Cuccaro ML, Cruchaga C, Pericak-Vance MA, Farrer LA, Wang L-S, Haines JL, Jefferson AL, Kukull WA, Keene CD, Saykin AJ, Thompson PM, Martin ER, Bennett DA, Barnes LL, Schneider JA, Crane PK, Albert MS, Johnson SC, Engelman CD, Mayeux R, Vardarajan BN, Hohman TJ, Dumitrescu L: Genetic predictors of multiple cognitive domains within ancestry groups in older adults. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), Amsterdam, Netherlands July 2023 Notes: Poster presentation.

Eissman JM, Walters S, Mukherjee S, Lee ML, Choi S-E, Scollard P, Trittschuh EH, Mez JB, Bush WS, Kunkle BW, Naj AC, Gifford KA, The Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC), The Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP), Cuccaro ML, Cruchaga C, Pericak-Vance MA, Farrer LA, Wang L-S, Haines JL, Jefferson AL, Kukull WA, Keene CD, Saykin AJ, Thompson PM, Martin ER, Bennett DA, Barnes LL, Schneider JA, Albert MS, Johnson SC, Engelman CD, Mayeux R, Vardarajan BN, Crane PK, Hohman TJ, Dumitrescu L: Sex-specific genetic architecture of multiple domains of cognition among older adults. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), Amsterdam, Netherlands July 2023 Notes: Poster presentation.

Li YJ, Nuytemans K, La JO, Jiang R, Slifer SH, Sun S, Naj A, Gao XR, Martin ER.: Identification of novel genes for age-at-onset of Alzheimer's disease by combining quantitative and survival trait analyses. Alzheimer's & Dementia 19(7): 3148-3157, July 2023.