Dr. Jarin Tusnim is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She received her B.Sc. in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2018 and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the joint program of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and Rutgers University in 2025. Her doctoral research focused on developing 3D collagen-based in vitro models to study peripheral nerve injury and regeneration. Her studies revealed that the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) ibuprofen and indomethacin enhance peripheral nerve growth and calcium signaling through peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) activation, independent of their classical cyclooxygenase (COX)-inhibitory functions. The research culminated in multiple first-author publications and several podium and poster presentations at conferences.

At the UCSF in the lab of Dr. Xianhua Piao, Dr. Tusnim investigates the role of adhesion G protein–coupled receptor (ADGRG1) in regulating microglial responses to tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease. Her current work integrates conditional knockout mouse models, iPSC-derived microglia, tau seeding assays, and single-nucleus RNA sequencing to dissect ADGRG1-mediated protective responses to Alzheimer’s disease. She has received numerous honors, including five Graduate Student Association travel awards (2021-2024), second place in the NJIT 3-Minute Research Presentation Competition (2024), and second place in the prestigious UCSF Postdoc Slam (2025). Dr. Tusnim’s long-term goal is to establish an independent research program focused on the mechanistic and translational investigation of neurodegenerative diseases.