Dr. Ali Jawaid is a new Group Leader at the Center of Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders (BRAINCITY) of the Nencki Institute. He will be heading the research group ‘Translational Research in Neuropsychiatric Disorders (TREND).

Dr. Ali Jawaid’s research focuses on the interplay between epigenetic and metabolic factors in pathogenesis and inheritance of brain disorders. TREND lab aims to answer the critical question of how environmental exposures and life experiences; such as early life trauma, diet, and inflammation, give susceptibility to neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders and whether such susceptibilities are passed on to the offspring through brain-germline communication.

Dr. Ali Jawaid is an M.D.-Ph.D. with training in both clinical and basic neuroscience. An alumnus of Aga Khan University, Pakistan; Baylor College of Medicine, USA; and University of Zurich, Switzerland; He has published in top-tier scientific journals, such as Science, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, and Nature Communications and has been a TEDx speaker. His work has been featured in Science magazine, BBC, Science Daily, Le Figaro, and Psychology Today.  He is a fiction author and poet outside of work and uses his social media for scientific advocacy.