The Winston Lab
Specializing in Biofluid-Based Extracellular Vesicle Biomarkers and Health Disparities for AD
Charisse Winston, M.Sc., PhD
Specializing in Biofluid-Based Extracellular Vesicle Biomarkers and Health Disparities for AD
Dr. Winston’s lab focuses on advancing the field of biofluid-based extracellular vesicles as biomarkers for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other age-related dementias while addressing brain health inequities that exist amongst underserved patient groups.
Charisse Winston, M.Sc., PhD is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California (USC) in the Keck School of Medicine. She joined the department of Physiology and Neuroscience in August 2023 after completing her post-doctoral training and MOSAIC K99 fellowship at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
Dr. Winston received her Bachelor’s in Biochemistry from the University of Virginia, her Master’s in Biochemistry, and her PhD in Neuroscience from Georgetown University.
She is a member of several professional organizations including Black in Neuro (BiN), the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV), the Society for Neuroscience (SFN), the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), and the Alzheimer’s Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART) where she currently serves as the Chair for the Professional Interest Area (PIA), Blood Based Biomarker Extracellular Vesicle Working Group.
Dr. Winston is also a proud member of the first black Greek letter organization for African American college women, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., where she has close to 20 years of service. Dr. Winston’s main research areas includes racial/ethnic disparities in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), specifically understanding how neuronal extracellular vesicles (NEVs) contribute to the molecular environment that fosters AD amongst minoritized and underrepresented individuals. Moreover, Dr. Winston uses multi-disciplinary approaches to investigate how EVs derived from blood and saliva can serve as early diagnostic biomarkers for AD and other age-related dementias amongst Black and Hispanic populations.
Dr. Winston is credited with several publications related to the clinical utility of blood-based NEVs as biomarkers for early AD diagnosis and she has participated in several professional development and NIH-funded training programs to support her work.
RESEARCH
My research focuses on characterizing biofluid-based (blood, saliva, etc.) extracellular vesicle (EV) cargo as biomarkers for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other age-related dementias. The overall goals of my research program will significantly contribute to the field of EV biology in neurodegeneration; advance the field of AD diagnostics; and lay the foundation for future work in ethnically diverse patient groups. We predict that EV testing will increase accessibility to diverse minority and socioeconomic groups as well as improve screening enrollment and retention of ethnically diverse participants into AD clinical trials. My lab uses a multidisciplinary approach which includes EV biomarker discovery, preclinical animal and cell culture models, omics-based approaches, and bioinformatic analyses to accomplish the research goals of the lab.
TRAINING & AWARDS
- K99/R00 Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Award
- Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (JAD) 2024 Alzheimer’s Award for most impactful article (first author)
- Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) Early Career Faculty Scholar in the Health Equity Scholars Program (HESP)
- Centrally-linked Longitudinal pEripheral biomARkers of AD (CLEAR-AD) Diversity Scholarship Award, Indiana University
- Black Men’s Brain Health Fellowship Award
- National Institute of Aging Health Disparities Research Loan Repayment Program Award
- All of Us Biomedical Research and Data Science Program Seed Award, Baylor College of Medicine
- COMPASS Training and Mentoring Program, Washington University
- Leading the Advancement of Neuroscientists for Change (LAUNCH) Program, University of California, San Diego
People
fadi haddadin
University of San Diego, Undergraduate Student
fhaddadin@ucsd.edu
Rejina Roufegarinejad
University of San Diego, Undergraduate Student
rroufegarinejad@sandiego.edu
The Winston Lab is expanding! If you’re interested in joining our growing team or learning more about the exciting opportunities available, please contact me for more information.
CONTACT
Charisse Winston, M.S., PhD
Assistant Professor | Physiology & Neuroscience Department
Neuroscience Translational Research Division (NTRD)
Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI)
Keck School of Medicine at USC
9800 Mesa Rim Rd, San Diego, CA 92121
Email: cnwinsto@usc.edu
PUBLICATIONS
Plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 and phospho-tau217 concentration ratios increase the accuracy of amyloid PET classification in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.
Rissman RA, Langford O, Raman R, Donohue MC, Abdel-Latif S, Meyer MR, Wente-Roth T, Kirmess KM, Ngolab J, Winston CN, Jimenez-Maggiora G, Rafii MS, Sachdev P, West T, Yarasheski KE, Braunstein JB, Irizarry M, Johnson KA, Aisen PS, Sperling RA.
Assessment of brain-derived extracellular vesicle enrichment for blood biomarker analysis in age-related neurodegenerative diseases: An international overview
Badhwar A, Hirschberg Y, Tamayo NV, Iulita MF, Udeh-Momoh CT, Matton A, Tarawneh RM, Rissman RA, Ledreux A, Winston CN, Haqqani AS.
Winston CN, Langford O, Levin N, Raman R, Yarasheski K, West T, Abdel-Latif S, Donohue M, Nakamura A, Toba K, Masters CL, Doecke J, Sperling RA, Aisen PS, Rissman RA.
Evaluation of blood-based, extracellular vesicles as biomarkers for aging-related TDP-43 pathology.
Winston CN, Sukreet S, Lynch H, Lee VM, Wilcock DM, Nelson PT, Rissman RA.
Vaughn MN, Winston CN, Levin N, Rissman RA, Risbrough VB.