Adam Christian Naj, PhD

Assistant Professor of Epidemiology in Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Senior Scholar, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Perelman School of Medicine
Department: Biostatistics and Epidemiology
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
921 Blockley Hall
423 Guardian Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19104
423 Guardian Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: (215) 746-4180
Fax: (215) 573-1050
Lab: (215) 746-4180
Fax: (215) 573-1050
Lab: (215) 746-4180
Email:
adamnaj@mail.med.upenn.edu
adamnaj@mail.med.upenn.edu
Publications
Links
Search PubMed for articles
Collaborator Page for the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP)
Research Gate
Penn Neurodegeneration Genomics Center
NIA Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease Data Storage Site (NIAGADS)
Google Scholar
Search PubMed for articles
Collaborator Page for the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP)
Research Gate
Penn Neurodegeneration Genomics Center
NIA Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease Data Storage Site (NIAGADS)
Google Scholar
Education:
BA (Biology (Genetics)/Psychology)
University of Chicago, 2000.
PhD (Epidemiology (Human Genetics))
The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2008.
Permanent linkBA (Biology (Genetics)/Psychology)
University of Chicago, 2000.
PhD (Epidemiology (Human Genetics))
The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2008.
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
Holstege H, Hulsman M, Charbonnier C, Grenier-Boley B, Quenez O, Grozeva D, van Rooij JGJ, Sims R, Ahmad S, Amin N, Norsworthy PJ, Dols-Icardo O, Hummerich H, Kawalia A, Amouyel P, Beecham GW, Berr C, Bis JC, Boland A, Bossù P, Bouwman F, Bras J, Campion D, Cochran JN, Daniele A, Dartigues JF, Debette S, Deleuze JF, Denning N, DeStefano AL, Farrer LA, Fernández MV, Fox NC, Galimberti D, Genin E, Gille JJP, Le Guen Y, Guerreiro R, Haines JL, Holmes C, Ikram MA, Ikram MK, Jansen IE, Kraaij R, Lathrop M, Lemstra AW, Lleó A, Luckcuck L, Mannens MMAM, Marshall R, Martin ER, Masullo C, Mayeux R, Mecocci P, Meggy A, Mol MO, Morgan K, Myers RM, Nacmias B, Naj AC, Napolioni V, Pasquier F, Pastor P, Pericak-Vance MA, Raybould R, Redon R, Reinders MJT, Richard AC, Riedel-Heller SG, Rivadeneira F, Rousseau S, Ryan NS, Saad S, Sanchez-Juan P, Schellenberg GD, Scheltens P, Schott JM, Seripa D, Seshadri S, Sie D, Sistermans EA, Sorbi S, van Spaendonk R, Spalletta G, Tesi N, Tijms B, Uitterlinden AG, van der Lee SJ, Visser PJ, Wagner M, Wallon D, Wang LS, Zarea A, Clarimon J, van Swieten JC, Greicius MD, Yokoyama JS, Cruchaga C, Hardy J, Ramirez A, et al.: Exome sequencing identifies rare damaging variants in ATP8B4 and ABCA1 as risk factors for Alzheimer's disease. Nature Genetics 54: 1786-1794, December 2022.Rajabli F, Tosto G, Hamilton-Nelson KL, Kunkle BW, Vardarajan BN, Naj A, Whitehead PG, Gardner OK, Bush WS, Sariya S, Mayeux RP, Farrer LA, Cuccaro ML, Vance JM, Griswold AJ, Schellenberg GD, Haines JL, Byrd GS, Reitz C, Beecham GW, Pericak-Vance MA, Martin ER; Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC), Collaboration on Alzheimer's Disease Research (CADRE) and Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP): Admixture mapping identifies novel Alzheimer's disease risk regions in African Americans. Alzheimer's & Dementia December 2022 Notes: Online ahead of print.
Woodward AA, Urbanowicz RJ, Naj AC, Moore JH.: Genetic heterogeneity: Challenges, impacts, and methods through an associative lens. Genetic Epidemiology August 2022.
Mustafa Y, Naj AC, Below JE, Bush WS: Identifying context-specific genetic variants and molecular pathways associated with resilience to Alzheimer’s disease in the induced immune response. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), San Diego, CA, USA July 2022 Notes: Poster presentation.
Zhang X, Guo S, Naj AC, Below J, Kunkle BW, Dumitrescu L, Martin ER, Bush WS: Modeling gene expression on the X chromosome in the brain for transcriptome-wide association studies. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), San Diego, CA, USA July 2022 Notes: Poster presentation.
Mena PR, Kunkle BW, Faber KM, Adams LD, Inciute JD, Whitehead PL, Foroud TM, Reyes-Dumeyer D, Kuzma AB, Leung YY, Naj AC, Martin ER, Dalgard CL, Schellenberg GD, Wang L-S, Mayeux R, Vardarajan BN, Vance JM, Cuccaro ML, Pericak-Vance MA: The Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project Follow-Up Study (ADSP-FUS): increasing ethnic diversity in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) genetics research. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), San Diego, CA, USA July 2022 Notes: Poster presentation.
Contreras AG, Walters S, Mukherjee S, Lee ML, Choi S-E, Scollard P, Trittschuh EH, Mez JB, Bush WS, Engelman CD, Lu Q, Fardo DW, Widaman KF, Buckley RF, Mormino EC, Kunkle BW, Naj AC, Clark LR, Gifford KA, The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC), Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP), Cuccaro ML, Cruchaga C, Pericak-Vance MA, Farrer LA, Wang L-S, Schellenberg GD, Haines JL, Jefferson AL, Johnson SC, Kukull WA, Albert MS, Keene CD, Saykin AJ, Larson EB, Sperling RA, Mayeux R, Thompson PM, Martin ER, Bennett DA, Barnes LL, Schneider JA, Crane PK, Hohman TJ, Dumitrescu L: Sex differences in APOE effects on cognition are domain-specific. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), San Diego, CA, USA July 2022 Notes: Poster presentation.
Jin B, Capra JA, Benchek P, Wheeler NR, Naj AC, Hamilton-Nelson KL, Farrell J, Leung YY, Kunkle BW, Vardarajan BN, Schellenberg GD, Mayeux R, Wang L-S, Farrer LA, Pericak-Vance MA, Martin ER, Haines JL, Crawford D, Bush WS: Spatial Distribution of Rare Missense Variants Within Protein Structures is Associated with AD Risk. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), San Diego, CA, USA July 2022 Notes: Oral Presentation.
Fongang B, Sargurupremraj M, Jian X, Mishra A, Bis JC, Fan K-H, Li G, Yang J, Hilal S, Knol MJ, Concas MP, Girotto G, Riaz M, Guðjónsson A, Lacaze P, Naj AC, van der Lee SJ, Skrobot OA, Gudnason V, Lopez OL, Haan M, Bosnes I, Dufouil C, Ganguli M, Cheung C-L, Bennett DA, Chen C, Kamboh MI, Satizabal CL, Ikram MA, Debette S, Fornage M, Yang Q, Schellenberg GD, Winsvold B, Kehoe PG, Ruiz A, Lambert J-C, Weinstein G, Seshadri S: Genetic insights of all-cause and vascular dementia through genome-wide association studies. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), San Diego, CA, USA July 2022 Notes: Poster presentation.
Bai H, Naj AC, Leung YY, Wang L-S, Schellenberg GD, Mayeux R, Pericak-Vance MA, Farrer LA, Dumitrescu L, Hohman TJ, Kunkle BW, Martin ER, Haines JL, Bush WS: A Haptoglobin (HP) Exon Deletion Polymorphism Alters the Effect of APOE Alleles on Alzheimer’s Disease in European-Descent People with APOE ε4. Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), San Diego, CA, USA July 2022 Notes: Poster presentation.