Dr. Mathew Blurton-Jones is a Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of California, Irvine, and Director of UCI’s ADRC iPSC core and Stem Cell CRISPR core. His research combines human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), CRISPR engineering, and chimeric mouse models to examine the underlying molecular mechanisms that drive the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. The Blurton-Jones lab previously developed methods to differentiate patient-derived iPSCs into microglia and his group continues to use this approach to examine the impact of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) risk genes on human microglia function. To further examine the interactions between human microglia and AD pathologies in vivo, his lab uses chimeric mouse models of AD and related disorders. Ongoing studies in the Blurton-Jones lab are combining iPSCs, CRISPR gene editing and chimeric modeling to examine the impact of AD-associated risk genes on human microglial function and disease progression in vivo and to develop and test novel microglial-based cell therapies for neurodegenerative diseases.