Miguel Minaya

Instructor in Psychiatry

Education & Training


  • Postdoctoral Research Associate. Neurogenetics & Neurology: Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 2022
  • Postdoctoral Fellow. Virology: Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, 2019
  • PhD Molecular Biology: Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain, 2015
  • MS Evolutionary Biology: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, 2007
  • BS Biology: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, 2005

Major Awards


  • Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center (ADRC) Research Education Component (REC) Scholar program. WUSM, 2022
  • Finalist extraordinary doctorate award, Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain, 2015
  • Doctoral Student Research Award, Ministry of Science and Education, Spain, 2007
  • Graduate Research Fellowship, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, 2005
  • Undergraduate Research Award, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, 2004
  • Undergraduate Fellowship, Ministry of Science and Education, Spain, 2000

Research Interests


My research primarily focuses on coupling stem cell modeling with genomic approaches to determine whether there is a common molecular mechanism that links the existence of certain MAPT mutations to the surge in tauopathies observed when they are present. To this end, I study transcriptomic profiles of iPSC-neurons, -astrocytes and -microglia carrying disease-related mutations and compare them to isogenic controls created using CRISPR/Cas9 protocols.

My long-term goal is to use ever more powerful novel approaches such as CRISPRi for multimodal genetic screening in human cell lines to understand more deeply the functions of several molecular drivers of disease and how to target these signatures to treat disease.

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Key Publications


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