Dr. Kimberly Olney is a Computational Scientist in the Fryer Lab at the Center for Accelerated Nanotherapeutics within the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). Her research focuses on deciphering the molecular underpinnings of neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, as well as systemic inflammatory conditions like sepsis. Leveraging multi-omics approaches, Dr. Olney investigates transcriptional and genomic alterations that contribute to disease progression, with the goal of identifying novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
After earning her Ph.D. in May 2021 from Arizona State University, Dr. Olney joined Dr. John Fryer’s lab at Mayo Clinic Arizona, where she applied computational methods to analyze transcriptomic disruptions in a pig model of systemic endotoxemia. Her work uncovered critical pathways affected by inflammation, offering insights into how systemic immune responses impact the brain and kidneys. In addition, she identified widespread choroid plexus contamination in publicly available transcriptomic datasets, including GTEx and the Allen Brain Atlas, highlighting the importance of data quality control in neuroscience research.
Dr. Olney’s recent work explores distinct gene expression changes in Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, shedding light on unique molecular processes underlying neuroinflammation. Recognizing sex differences in neurodegenerative disease susceptibility and outcomes, she aims to dissect sex-shared and sex-biased molecular pathways to develop more effective, personalized therapeutic strategies. Through integrative computational analyses, her research paves the way for targeted interventions to mitigate neuroinflammation and improve patient outcomes.
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