Courtney Lane-Donovan, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Neurology
School of Medicine

As an assistant professor in the Division of the Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging within the Department of Neurology at UCSF and a Weill Neurohubexternal site (opens in a new window) Investigator, she combines her clinical care for patients with cognitive impairment and dementia with cutting-edge research focused on the biology of aging brain cells.

Dr. Lane-Donovan’s research investigates how changes in the lysosome—a vital cell organelle responsible for processing and recycling proteins—may contribute to the accumulation of protein aggregates that are characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases. Her work aims to investigate how lysosomal health and function decline with age, potentially rendering the brain more susceptible to these conditions. She is currently leading a two-part project focused on lysosomal changes in different brain cell types and regions, supported by the prestigious Irene Perstein Award. The award recognizes outstanding junior women scientists in the UCSF School of Medicine and will enable Dr. Lane-Donovan to advance her studies using innovative models to explore lysosomal function during aging.

Dr. Lane-Donovan’s path to neurology began during medical school, where she developed a deep interest in neuroscience and the link between aging and neurodegenerative diseases. While completing her MD/PhD at UT Southwestern, she conducted research on ApoE receptor signaling in transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease and identified the protective role of reelin, a key protein in brain development, against amyloid beta accumulation. She went on to complete her neurology residency at UCSF and continued as a postdoctoral researcher under the R25 program. She is hopeful her research will uncover new pathways to address the cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases and pave the way for improved treatments.

• Linking Type and Extent of Head Trauma to Cavum Septum Pellucidum in Older Adults With and Without Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias.
  Neurology 2024 Asken BM, Tanner JA, Vandevrede L, Apple A, Chapleau M, Gaynor LS, Lane-Donovan C, Lenio S, Yadollahikhales G, Lee S, Gontrum E, Knudtson M, Iaccarino L, La Joie R, Cobigo Y, Staffaroni AM, Casaletto …
• Disentangling tau: One protein, many therapeutic approaches.
  Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics 2024 Lane-Donovan C, Boxer AL
• Tau pathology in neurodegenerative disease: disease mechanisms and therapeutic avenues.
  The Journal of clinical investigation 2023 Samudra N, Lane-Donovan C, VandeVrede L, Boxer AL
• Mycobacterium avium Complex Infection as a Rare Cause of Cerebral Mass Lesion and IRIS in a Patient With AIDS: Case Report and Review of the Literature.
  Open forum infectious diseases 2021 Lane-Donovan C, Bainbridge E, Szumowski J, Kerkhoff AD, Peluso MJ
• Reelin Regulates Neuronal Excitability through Striatal-Enriched Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase (STEP61) and Calcium Permeable AMPARs in an NMDAR-Dependent Manner.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2021 Durakoglugil MS, Wasser CR, Wong CH, Pohlkamp T, Xian X, Lane-Donovan C, Fritschle K, Naestle L, Herz J
• Reversal of ApoE4-induced recycling block as a novel prevention approach for Alzheimer's disease.
  eLife 2018 Xian X, Pohlkamp T, Durakoglugil MS, Wong CH, Beck JK, Lane-Donovan C, Plattner F, Herz J
• Building a better blood-brain barrier.
  eLife 2017 Lane-Donovan C, Herz J
• The ApoE receptors Vldlr and Apoer2 in central nervous system function and disease.
  Journal of lipid research 2017 Lane-Donovan C, Herz J
• ApoE, ApoE Receptors, and the Synapse in Alzheimer's Disease.
  Trends in endocrinology and metabolism: TEM 2017 Lane-Donovan C, Herz J
• NGP 555, a γ-Secretase Modulator, Lowers the Amyloid Biomarker, Aβ42, in Cerebrospinal Fluid while Preventing Alzheimer's Disease Cognitive Decline in Rodents.
  Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.) 2017 Kounnas MZ, Lane-Donovan C, Nowakowski DW, Herz J, Comer WT
• Genetic Restoration of Plasma ApoE Improves Cognition and Partially Restores Synaptic Defects in ApoE-Deficient Mice.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2016 Lane-Donovan C, Wong WM, Durakoglugil MS, Wasser CR, Jiang S, Xian X, Herz J
• Physiologic Reelin does not play a strong role in protection against acute stroke.
  Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism 2016 Lane-Donovan C, Desai C, Pohlkamp T, Plautz EJ, Herz J, Stowe AM
• High-Fat Diet Changes Hippocampal Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) in a Genotype- and Carbohydrate-Dependent Manner in Mice.
  PloS one 2016 Lane-Donovan C, Herz J
• Reelin protects against amyloid β toxicity in vivo.
  Science signaling 2015 Lane-Donovan C, Philips GT, Wasser CR, Durakoglugil MS, Masiulis I, Upadhaya A, Pohlkamp T, Coskun C, Kotti T, Steller L, Hammer RE, Frotscher M, Bock HH, Herz J
• Science Signaling Podcast: 7 July 2015.
  Science Signaling 2015 Courtney Lane-Donovan, Joachim Herz, Annalisa M. VanHook
• Lrp4 domains differentially regulate limb/brain development and synaptic plasticity.
  PloS one 2015 Pohlkamp T, Durakoglugil M, Lane-Donovan C, Xian X, Johnson EB, Hammer RE, Herz J
• Differential splicing and glycosylation of Apoer2 alters synaptic plasticity and fear learning.
  Science signaling 2014 Wasser CR, Masiulis I, Durakoglugil MS, Lane-Donovan C, Xian X, Beffert U, Agarwala A, Hammer RE, Herz J
• Is apolipoprotein e required for cognitive function in humans?: implications for Alzheimer drug development.
  JAMA neurology 2014 Lane-Donovan C, Herz J
• More than cholesterol transporters: lipoprotein receptors in CNS function and neurodegeneration.
  Neuron 2014 Lane-Donovan C, Philips GT, Herz J
• Intermittent practice facilitates stable motor memories.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2006 Overduin SA, Richardson AG, Lane CE, Bizzi E, Press DZ