Nazek Queder

Graduate Student
Email: nqueder@uci.edu

About Me

Projects

Research Interests

Fun!

Publications:

I obtained my B.A. in psychology with emphasis on neuroscience from UC Irvine in 2019. I was lucky enough to have gained vivid research experience in neuroscience and brain imaging early in my career. My previous research experience underlies clinical and behavioral memory research focused on neurodegenerative diseases, as well as neuroinformatics and data science. As an undergraduate student, I developed an MRI-based brain atlas for amyloid PET studies of Alzheimer’s Disease in the Down Syndrome population under the supervision of Dr. David Keator. After I graduated, I joined Dr. Keator’s lab as a research specialist. My research included development of controlled vocabularies to improve the reproducibility of neuroimaging-related findings and to facilitate queries across publically-available data. As a graduate student, I joined Dr. Yassa’s Translational Neuroscience Laboratory to study the structural and neurobiological changes in the brain accompanying the progression of dementia in individuals with Down Syndrome. I am excited to combine what I have learned in the past and devote my skills to contribute to the field of neuroscience. I hope that my work and research throughout my career will help develop early interventions and improve the quality of life of individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease dementia.

Lab Research Projects

I contribute to the following research areas in the Translational Neuroscience Laboratory.

My research interests are focused on the progressive structural changes and neurobiological mechanisms that accompany the development of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and how those changes translate to cognitive impairments leading to AD dementia. More specifically, investigating early changes in structural connectivity and identifying early biomarkers in preclinical AD in individuals with Down syndrome. My research utilizes brain imaging tools, such as diffusion weighted imaging, to investigate structural changes in brain regions that have been shown to be implicated during the progression of AD. I am further interested in understanding how the neurobiological mechanisms associated with AD impact the structural connectivity in such brain regions, and how we can use those changes to trace to the earliest biomarkers of AD dementia.

I enjoy spending time outdoors biking, kayaking, and hiking. I also love spending time with my three parrots, Walter, Minnie, and Rick, and I include them in most of my outdoor activities (yes! even my bike rides!). So if you see someone biking around Irvine with a small travel cage attached to their bike, that would be me! At home, I enjoy movie nights with my husband Becker, and when I have a few hours to spare, you’ll find me in my room, with pencils and charcoal all over my hands, drawing. Speaking of art, I also enjoy anything that involves designing from little DIY projects to interior design.

Queder, N., Phelan, M.J., Taylor, L., Tustison, N., Doran, E., Hom, C., Nguyen, D., Lai, F., Pulsifer, M., Price, J., Kreisl, W.C., Rosas, D.H., Krinsky-McHale, S., Brickman, B., Yassa, M.A., Schupf, N., Silverman, S., Lott, I.T., Keator, D.B. (2022) Joint-Label Fusion Brain Atlases for Dementia Research in Down Syndrome. Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment and Disease Monitoring. https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12324.

Kumar A, Crowley A, Queder N et al. (2022) The Neuroimaging Data Model Linear Regression Tool (nidm_linreg): PyNIDM Project. F1000Research 2022, 11:228. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.108008.1

Niso, G., Botvinik-Nezer, R., Appelhoff, S., De La Vega, A., Esteban, O., Etzel, J. A., Finc K., Ganz M., Gau R., Halchenko Y.O., Herholz P., Karakuzu A., Keator D.B., Markieqicz C.J., Mumet C., Pernet C.R., Pestilli F., Queder, N., Schmitt T., Sjka W., Wagner A.S., Whitaker K.J., Rieger, J.W. (2022). Open and reproducible neuroimaging: from study inception to publication. Neuroimage. Under Review.

What the lab means to me…

“The lab is like a second family to me. It’s where I can share my thoughts, be creative, and find unlimited support. Every single person has a unique background and expertise, which facilitates a collaborative environment leading to personal and professional growth and most importantly friendships! I’m so lucky to be surrounded by intelligent, creative, and devoted minds.“