Dr. Maya Koronyo-Hamaoui is a professor in the departments of Neurosurgery, Neurology, and Biomedical Sciences at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California. The Koronyo-Hamaoui team investigates the role of innate immune cells in CNS repair and regeneration with the goal of developing immunomodulation-based treatments for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In addition, she explores the pathological changes in the retina specific to AD for the prospect of early screening and disease monitoring.

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She is a pioneer in identifying the pathological hall marks of AD, Aβ plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, in the retina of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD. Over a decade ago, her team developed a break through approach for live detection of retinal Aβ screening using noninvasive optical retinal imaging.

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By applying this technology, the team discovered that the amount of retinal amyloid plaques, especially in the mid-peripheral regions of the superior-temporal retina, was rising in cognitively impaired and AD patients as compared to cognitively normal individuals; retinal plaques correlated with hippocampal atrophy.

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Currently, her lab explores additional aspects of AD pathology in the retina, including neuroinflammation, tauopathy, vasculopathy and synaptic loss, as well as establishes the relationship with disease in the brain and cognitive decline.