Ana Griciuc, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Faculty, McCance Center for Brain Health, Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute


Dr. Ana Griciuc received her Ph.D. degree in Neuroscience from the Helmholtz Research Center Munich and conducted postdoctoral research at Mass General and Harvard Medical School.

Within the Genetics and Aging Research Unit, the lab of Dr. Griciuc investigates how mutations in genetics risk factors, CD33 and TREM2, contribute to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis in iPSC-derived human microglia-like cells (iMGLs) and mouse models of AD. Dr. Griciuc and her team also develop viral and non-viral gene therapy strategies targeting these innate immune receptors and implement preclinical drug discovery for AD based on modulation of microglial activation state. Dr. Griciuc has received several awards, including the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00), Roger Ackerman Memorial Grant Award, and Excellence in Innovation Award from Mass General Brigham.

Funded Research

These projects were made possible from Cure Alzheimer's Fund support.

Selected Publications

These published papers resulted from Cure Alzheimer’s Fund support.

Pilat, D. J., Le, H., Prokopenko, D., Lin, C. J., Eimer, W. A., Quinti, L., Gavrilles, E. P., Garcia, S. N., Heitman, S. N., Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), McGinty, D., Cetinbas, M., Sadreyev, R. I., Tanzi, R. E., & Griciuc, A. The gain-of-function TREM2-T96K mutation increases risk for Alzheimer’s disease by impairing microglial function, Neuron, October 17, 2025, Read More

Naderi Yeganeh, P., Kwak, S. S., Jorfi, M., Koler, K., Kalatturu, T., von Maydell, D., Liu, Z., Guo, K., Choi, Y., Park, J., Abarca, N., Bakiasi, G., Cetinbas, M., Sadreyev, R., Griciuc, A., Quinti, L., Choi, S. H., Xia, W., Tanzi, R. E., Hide, W., Kim, D. Y. Integrative pathway analysis across humans and 3D cellular models identifies the p38 MAPK-MK2 axis as a therapeutic target for Alzheimer’s disease, Neuron, November 27, 2024, Read More

Liang, Y., Lee, D. Y. W., Zhen, S., Sun, H., Zhu, B., Liu, J., Lei, D., Lin, C. J., Zhang, S., Jacques, N. A., Quinti, L., Ran, C., Wang, C., Griciuc, A., Choi, S. H., Dai, R. H., Efferth, T., Tanzi, R. E., & Zhang, C. Natural medicine HLXL targets multiple pathways of amyloid-mediated neuroinflammation and immune response in treating alzheimer’s disease, Phytomedicine, May 13, 2022, Read More

McAlpine, C. S., Park, J., Griciuc, A., Kim, E., Choi, S. H., Iwamoto, Y., Kiss, M. G., Christie, K. A., Vinegoni, C., Poller, W. C., Mindur, J. E., Chan, C. T., He, S., Janssen, H., Wong, L. P., Downey, J., Singh, S., Anzai, A., Kahles, F., Jorfi, M., Feruglio, P.F., Sadreyev, R. I., Weissleder, R., Kleinstiver, B. P., Nahrendorf, M., Tanzi, R. E., & Swirski, F. K. Astrocytic interleukin-3 programs microglia and limits Alzheimer’s disease, Nature, July 14, 2021, Read More

Griciuc, A., & Tanzi, R. E. The role of innate immune genes in Alzheimer’s disease, Current Opinion in Neurology, April 1, 2021, Read More

Griciuc, A., Federico, A. N., Natasan, J., Forte, A. M., McGinty, D., Nguyen, H., Volak, A., LeRoy, S., Gandhi, S., Lerner, E. P., Hudry, E., Tanzi, R. E., & Maguire, C. A. Gene therapy for Alzheimer’s Disease targeting CD33 reduces amyloid beta accumulation and neuroinflammation., Human Molecular Genetics, August 17, 2020, Read More

Griciuc, A., Patel, S., Federico, A. N., Choi, S. H., Innes, B. J., Oram, M. K., Cereghetti, G., McGinty, D., Anselmo, A., Sadreyev, R. I., Hickman, S. E., El Khoury, J., Colonna, M., & Tanzi, R. E. TREM2 Acts Downstream of CD33 in Modulating Microglial Pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease, Neuron, July 10, 2019, Read More

Zhang, C., Griciuc, A., Hudry, E., Wan, Y., Quinti, L., Ward, J., Forte, A. M., Shen, X., Ran, C., Elmaleh, D. R., & Tanzi, R. E. Cromolyn Reduces Levels of the Alzheimer’s Disease-Associated Amyloid Beta Protein by Promoting microglial Phagocytosis, Scientific Reports, January 18, 2018, Read More

Griciuc, A., Serrano-Pozo, A., Parrado, A. R., Lesinski, A. N., Asselin, C. N., Mullin, K., Hooli, B., Choi, S. H., Hyman, B. T., & Tanzi, R. E. Alzheimer’s disease risk gene CD33 inhibits microglial uptake of amyloid beta, Neuron, May 22, 2013, Read More