Nilufer Ertekin-taner MD, PhD

Nilufer Ertekin-Taner, M.D., Ph.D., is a neurogeneticist and behavioral neurologist at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. Her laboratory aims to discover and characterize genetic factors underlying the complex genetics of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related neurodegenerative conditions.

She received her medical degree from Hacettepe University Medical School in Ankara, Turkey, and her doctorate degree in Molecular Neuroscience from Mayo Graduate School. She completed her residency training in the Department of Neurology at Mayo Clinic Hospital — Rochester, and her fellowship in behavioral neurology at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Jacksonville.

Dr. Ertekin-Taner’s work has contributed to the establishment of the endophenotype approach in genetic studies of AD and pioneered the use of amyloid β peptide levels as an endophenotype in AD genetic research. Dr. Ertekin-Taner's laboratory currently uses biological traits such as gene expression levels and cognitive scores and leverages combined genome, transcriptome, and epigenetic data to uncover genetic risk factors for neurodegenerative conditions.

She has led large, multi-site projects that leverage complex data to uncover the genetic underpinnings of AD and other neurodegenerative conditions, which can ultimately identify therapeutic targets and biomarkers. In addition to her basic science research, Dr. Ertekin-Taner has worked as a behavioral neurologist in the Memory Disorders Clinic at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Jacksonville, where she has evaluated and managed patients with AD and other neurodegenerative diseases and has aspired to improve the quality of care provided to patients and their families.