Ed Monuki MD, PhD

After growing up in Los Angeles, I received my BS from MIT, then my MD and PhD degrees from UC San Diego. As a PhD student, I worked on developing glial cells with Greg Lemke at the Salk Institute. I then moved to Boston for residency and fellowship training in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology. While attending at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital, I carried out postdoctoral research on the developing forebrain with Chris Walsh at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center before joining UCI in 2001.

Early on, my lab focused on the developing forebrain using neural stem cells and mouse genetics. During this period, we defined a network of morphogens and selector genes that initiates formation of the dorsal forebrain, including the cerebral cortex and choroid plexus. These studies also provided unique insights into human forebrain malformations and a novel way to convert graded morphogenic information into all-or-none cell fate decisions.

Thanks to voters of California and advent of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), my lab shifted its attention to regenerative medicine and the choroid plexus, a neglected tissue with tremendous potential for understanding and treating the human brain. By applying basic principles from our earlier work, we designed and patented a technology to derive choroid plexus cells from pluripotent stem cells. More recently, we began exploring the pathologies of human choroid plexus using artificial intelligence with a goal of developing a comprehensive regenerative medicine program (developmental modeling, disease modeling, drug screens, and cell-based therapies) for this neglected, yet vital tissue.

Contact: emonuki@uci.edu

Education

1980-1984 BS, Biology MIT

1986-1994 MD UC San Diego

1988-1992 PhD, Neurosciences UC San Diego

1994-1996 Resident in Anatomic Pathology Massachusetts General Hospital

1996-1998 Clinical Fellow in Neuropathology Brigham & Women’s Hospital     and Boston Children’s Hospital

1998-2001 Research Fellow in Neurology Beth Israel Deaconess Med Center

UCI Appointments

2015-present Warren L. Bostick Professor and Chair, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine

2015-present CLIA Director, UCI Laboratories

2003-present Joint Appointment, Developmental & Cell Biology

2013-present Director, Neuropathology Core, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

2013-present Associate Director, Medical Scientist Training Program

Other Profiles

UCI faculty profile: https://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=4649

UCI Health clinical profile: http://www.ucihealth.org/find-a-doctor/m/edwin-monuki

Stem Cell Research Center: https://stemcell.uci.edu/People/Faculty/edwin_s_monuki.php

Developmental & Cell Biology: https://devcell.bio.uci.edu/faculty/edwin-monuki/