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Joel Blanchard, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai

Dr. Joel W. Blanchard is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Cell, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is also an investigator at the Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer’s Disease.

Dr. Blanchard’s research focuses on understanding the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease with a particular emphasis on the blood-brain barrier, myelin, and glia. The Blanchard Laboratory specializes in creating advanced human brain models to determine the impact of genetic variants and environmental stressors on brain health. Dr. Blanchard received his BS from St. Lawrence University, a Master’s from Harvard University, a Ph.D. from the Scripps Research Institute, and postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research has led to significant insights, such as how APOE4 impairs myelination through cholesterol dysregulation in oligodendrocytes. His lab has also pioneered technologies to study the human blood-brain barrier and its role in neurological disease.

To learn more, visit the Blanchard Lab Website and follow Dr. Blanchard on social media: @JoelWBlanchard; @joelwblanchard.bsky.social; http://www.linkedin.com/in/joelwblanchardphd.

Related Research:

Defining and Targeting Mechanisms of APOE4 Cerebrovascular Dysfunction and Amyloid Accumulation in Alzheimer’s Disease Joel Blanchard 2026-09-29 Investigating Lysosomal Mechanisms of Risk and Resilience in Alzheimer’s Disease Joel Blanchard 2023-12-09 Establishing the Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms and Biomarkers of APOE4-Mediated Susceptibility to Tau-Related Cognitive Impairments Joel Blanchard 2022-02-10

Funded Research

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

Project Description Researchers Funding
Defining and Targeting Mechanisms of APOE4 Cerebrovascular Dysfunction and Amyloid Accumulation in Alzheimer’s Disease 2026

$459,746
Investigating Lysosomal Mechanisms of Risk and Resilience in Alzheimer’s Disease 2023, 2024

$402,500
Establishing the Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms and Biomarkers of APOE4-Mediated Susceptibility to Tau-Related Cognitive Impairments 2021, 2022

$345,000

Selected Publications

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

Goldman, C., Kareva, T., Sarrafha, L., Schuldt, B. R., Sahasrabudhe, A., Ahfeldt, T., & Blanchard, J. W. Genetically encoded and modular subcellular organelle probes reveal dysfunction in lysosomes and mitochondria driven by PRKN knockout, iScience, July 3, 2025, Read More

Goldman, C., Suhy, N., Schwarz, J. E., Sartori, E. R., Rooklin, R. B., Schuldt, B. R., Mesentier-Louro, L. A., & Blanchard, J. W. Reconstruction of the Blood-Brain Barrier In Vitro to Model and Therapeutically Target Neurological Disease, Journal of Visualized Experiments, October 20, 2023, Read More

Mesentier-Louro, L. A., Suhy, N., Broekaart, D., Bula, M., Pereira, A. C., & Blanchard, J. W. Modeling the Blood-Brain Barrier Using Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, Methods in Molecular Biology, June 11, 2023, Read More

Blanchard, J. W., Akay, L. A., Davila-Velderrain, J., von Maydell, D., … Kellis, M., Tsai, L. H. APOE4 impairs myelination via cholesterol dysregulation in oligodendrocytes, Nature, November 16, 2022, Read More

Li, H., Przybyla, L., & Blanchard, J. W. Editorial: Understanding human biology with iPSC derived cell types in the era of CRISPR technology, Fronetiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, December 22, 2023, Read More

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