Malú G. Tansey

Malú G. Tansey is an American Physiologist and a professor of neurology and the James A. Caplin MD, Chair in Alzheimer’s Disease at the Indiana University School of Medicine. She is also the director of the Neuroimmunology Research Group and the executive associate director of education at the Stark Neuroscience Research Institute. Dr. Tansey joined the IU School of Medicine faculty in January 2025. As the principal investigator of the Tansey Lab, Tansey guides a research program centered around investigating the role of neuroimmune interactions in the development and progression of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disease. Tansey's work is primarily focused on exploring the cellular and molecular basis of peripheral and central inflammation in the pathology of age-related neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Early life and education In 1980, Tansey pursued her undergraduate education at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. She completed her bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences and then stayed at Stanford to complete her Master's in Biological Sciences as well. After graduating in 1985, Tansey pursued her graduate studies in Physiology and Cell Cycle Regulation at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Under the mentorship of James T. Stull, Tansey explored the role of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) phosphorylation in the regulation of smooth muscle contraction. Tansey found, early on in her PhD, that cellular mechanisms other than myosin light chain phosphorylation regulate contractile tension in smooth muscle cells. She later found that calcium dependent phosphorylation of MLCK in smooth muscle lead to decreased calcium sensitivity of phosphorylated myosin light chains. Tansey also proposed a model to understand the regulation of myosin light chain kinase phosphorylation by limited calmodulin availability. Tansey first explored the mechanisms of neuronal survival in cerebellar granule cells. She and her team knew that depolarizing concentrations of potassium promoted survival, so they asked whether the downstream effects of potassium influx on survival were mediated by MAP kinase or PI-3-K. They found that in order for proper RET function and thus proper GFL signalling, RET needed to be interacting with a GPI-linked co-receptor associated with a lipid raft in order for proper functioning.

Career and research After completing her postdoctoral work, Tansey then moved to California to work in industry for a few years as the group leader of Chemical Genetics at Zencor Inc. in Monrovia. As a Hispanic-American, Tansey worked to increase diversity and inclusion at Emory through her role as the Director of the Emory Initiative for Maximizing Student Development. Tansey also holds the titles of Evelyn F, and William L McKnight Brain Investigator and Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases Investigator. In addition to her leadership roles at UF, Tansey is also on the board of directors for the World Parkinson Coalition. Tansey specifically focuses on the role of TNF in neuroinflammation and the context of Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease. Since TNF had been implicated in pathology, Tansey explored a method to sequester TNF in vivo to act as an inhibitor of TNF function. They found that when they blocked TNF signalling using the variant TNF technology, they were able to attenuate progressive pathology and even reduce microglial activation, which was associated with the loss of dopamine neurons in PD. Short term activation of inflammation in the brain is present in disease, injury, or infection, and is useful in response to disease states, but if this inflammation is prolonged, it can lead to neuronal death. When RGS10 was knocked out in mice with chronic systemic inflammation, it led to overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines by microglia and death of dopaminergic neurons. She probed how diet effects immune infiltration into the brain since previous studies had shown that it might lead to compromised blood brain barrier function and increased immune cell infiltration into the CNS. Conversely, her findings showed that high fat high fructose diets did not increase peripheral trafficking of immune cells into the CNS.

Awards and honors

2019 Keynote Address at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference-Satellite Symposium 2013 GIN Faculty of the Year Award Emory University 2000 O'Leary Prize Winner 1991 Ida M. Green Award in Physiology

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