Investigator, Assoc Prof (M) NSI Neuro Research Fac MGPO, Mass General Research Institute

Associate Professor of Neurology Harvard Medical School

Affiliate Faculty Harvard Stem Cell Institute

Director MGH Collaborative Center for X-Linked Dystonia-Parkinsonism, Massachusetts General Hospital

dystonia; dystonia cell culture models; dystonia musculorum deformans; dyt1; dyt6; induced pluripotent stem cells; molecular chaperones; neurodegeneration; organelles; primary fibroblasts; thap1; x-linked dystonia parkinsonism Research in the Bragg laboratory is directed towards the identification of pathogenic mechanisms underlying hereditary forms of dystonia and the development of screening tools to seek novel candidates for treating these disorders.  Their approach involves the derivation and characterization of dystonia cell culture models, including primary fibroblasts, lymphoblasts, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which can be used for probing cellular defects and testing candidate therapeutics.  Current projects are focused on studies of DYT1 and DYT6 dystonias, linked to mutations in TOR1A and THAP1, respectively, as well as X-Linked Dystonia-Parkinsonism (XDP), for which the genetic lesion is not yet known.