Research Field

• Genetic and Neural Mechanisms of Chronic Pain
• Brain Ageing and Neurodegeneration
• Crosstalk between Brain and Other Organs

Biography

Dr. Lei Zhao is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. His research focuses on the interplay between peripheral pathology and genetic factors in brain aging and the development of neurodegenerative diseases. By employing approaches ranging from molecular docking and machine learning to the integration of multi-omics and neuroimaging data, he has advanced the understanding of the links between knee osteoarthritis and dementia.

As a first author, his work has been published in leading journals such as Nature Mental Health, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, and The Journal of Headache and Pain. Dr. Zhao’s research interests center on biological aging, genetics, and the clinical translation of neuroimaging, multi-omics, and computational methods. His overarching goal is to bridge fundamental science and clinical practice, ultimately improving diagnostics and therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases.