Dr. Hussaini received his PhD in Neurobiology at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. In his postdoctoral training here at Columbia University in the department of Neuroscience, he studied the function of hippocampal neurons (place cells) and entorhinal cortex neurons (grid cells) which are known to be important for memory and navigation.

Dr. Hussaini's lab is interested in the neurobiology of aging and Alzheimer's disease. The aim of his lab is to understand the neural correlates of cognitive dysfunction by studying regions of the brain that are most vulnerable to aging and disease. The entorhinal cortex-hippocampal (EC-HPC) circuit is a major network hub for memory and its neurons are among the first to be affected leading to impaired memory. Dr. Hussaini's lab is using in vivo electrophysiology and optogenetic techniques in mice to study the neuronal (dys)function in the EC-HPC circuit. In collaboration with Dr Karen Duff the lab is using novel mouse models of Alzheimer's disease that closely mimic pathologies and cognitive impairments seen in humans. The overarching goal of the lab is to be able to detect dysfunction in earlier stages of the disease and to restore cognitive function by manipulating neurons with optogenetic or electrical stimulation.

Selected Publications:

Fu H#, Rodriguez GA#, Herman M, Emrani S, Nahmani E, Barrett G, Figueroa HY, Goldberg E, Hussaini SA#*, Duff KE*, Tau Pathology Induces Excitatory Neuron Loss, Grid Cell Dysfunction, and Spatial Memory Deficits Reminiscent of Early Alzheimer’s Disease. Neuron 93, 1–9, February 8, 2017. #Equal contribution * Co-senior.

Wang S, Kugelman T, Buch A, Herman M, Han Y, Karakatsani ME, Hussaini SA, Duff KE, Konofagou E, Non-invasive, Focused Ultrasound-Facilitated Gene Delivery for Optogenetics. Sci Rep. Jan 6 2017;7:39955.

Fu H, Hussaini SA, Wegmann S, Profaci C, Daniels JD, Herman M, Emrani S, Figueroa HY, Hyman BT, Davies P, Duff KE, 3D Visualization of the Temporal and Spatial Spread of Tau Pathology Reveals Extensive Sites of Tau Accumulation Associated with Neuronal Loss and Recognition Memory Deficit in Aged Tau Transgenic Mice. PLoS One Jul 28 2016;11(7).

Wu JW, Hussaini SA, Bastille IM, Rodriguez GA, Mrejeru A, Rilett K, Sanders DW, Cook C, Fu H, Boonen RA, Herman M, Duff KE, Neuronal activity enhances tau propagation and tau pathology in vivo. Nat Neurosci. 2016 Aug;19(8):1085-92.

Hussaini SA, Kempadoo KA, Thuault SJ, Siegelbaum SA, Kandel ER., Increased size and stability of CA1 and CA3 place fields in HCN1 knockout mice. Neuron 2011 Nov 17;72(4):643-53.

Giocomo LM, Hussaini SA, Zheng F, Kandel ER, Moser MB, Moser EI., Grid cells use HCN1 channels for spatial scaling. Cell 2011 Nov 23;147(5):1159-70.