Udai Pandey, PhD

Udai Pandey, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Neurology at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Pandey earned his PhD in Medical Genetics from Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India. He did his postdoctoral training in Dr. J Paul Taylor’s laboratory in the Department of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Prior to relocating to Pittsburgh in 2014, Dr. Pandey was an Assistant Professor of Genetics at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans. The focus of Pandey laboratory is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of adult and pediatric onset neurological diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and other related motor neurons diseases. Recently, Dr. Pandey’s lab discovered novel pathogenic mutations in GEMIN5, an RNA-binding protein, among patients with developmental delay, ataxia, and motor dysfunction. Several RNA-binding proteins have been linked with different forms of human neurodegenerative diseases including ALS. Disease causing mutations in these RNA binding proteins suggest that underlying defects in RNA metabolism might play an important role in causing motor neuron degeneration. The Pandey lab developed cellular and animal models of neurodegenerative diseases that recapitulate several key pathological features of human disease such as neurodegeneration and behavioral defects. We are utilizing cell biological, genetic and biochemical techniques to understand molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration in animal, induced pluripotent stem cells and patient postmortem tissues. The Pandey lab is looking for genetic and small molecule modifiers of neurological diseases using different models. Dr. Pandey has published more than 51 manuscripts in high-impact journals.