Miguel Minaya

Miguel Minaya

Assistant Professor of 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

Major Awards


  • Butler-Williams Scholars Program. National Institute on Aging (NIA), 2023
  • 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

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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    Funded Research Projects


    NIH Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) 8/1/2023 – 4/30/2028
    Molecular drivers of tauopathies in stem cell models from diverse human populations
    Role: PI