Rate My Professor Yazi Ke

Professor Yazi Ke is the Deputy Director (Research and Operations) of the Dementia Research Centre and a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University. She leads a research group focused on RNA regulation in neurodegeneration. After obtaining her PhD in Neuroscience, Ke established herself as a leading expert in pathomechanisms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and motor neuron disease (MND). Her career includes postdoctoral research at the Neuroscience Laboratory, Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, before joining Macquarie University. Ke's research has elucidated critical roles of TDP-43 proteinopathy in FTD and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), developing innovative gene therapy approaches, including cell-targeted and immune-resistant vectors for single-dose treatments. These advancements have led to multiple patents, such as 'Treatment of dementia' and 'Treatment of excitotoxicity-related conditions' co-invented with Lars Ittner in 2022.

Ke has secured major funding, including the NHMRC Career Development Fellowship in 2016 for investigating novel pathomechanisms and therapeutic targets in neurodegenerative diseases, the Betty and John Laidlaw MND Research Prize in 2020 for novel therapeutic strategies targeting TDP-43 in MND, an NHMRC Ideas Grant of approximately $687,000 in 2023 for advancing gene therapy in FTD and MND, and a $550,000 MRFF grant in 2024 to test new MND drugs. Her key publications encompass 'Targeting 14-3-3θ-mediated TDP-43 pathology in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration' (Neuron, 2024), 'TDP-43 pathology and functional deficits in wild-type and humanized mice' (2023), 'Efficient Gene Expression in Human Stem Cell Derived-Cortical Organoids' (2022), and earlier influential works like 'Parkinsonism and impaired axonal transport in a mouse model of frontotemporal dementia' (2008). With over 5,800 citations and an established biotechnology company, Celosia Therapeutics, where she serves as Chief Operating Officer, Ke's contributions significantly influence therapeutic development for neurodegenerative disorders.