Dr. Andrea Tenner is currently Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, Neurobiology & Behavior, and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. After earning her Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego, Dr. Tenner entered the complement field as a postdoctoral fellow at Scripps Research Foundation in La Jolla. She has made major contributions to how this innate immune system influences protective responses to pathogens and injury, modulates immune responses, contributes to neuroprotection and, when dysregulated, causes detrimental inflammatory disorders particularly in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer?s disease. Her laboratory has explored the consequences of activation of the entire complement pathway by fibrillar (beta-sheet) amyloid plaques in Alzheimer?s disease, including the contribution of complement activation product C5a to inflammation and progression of Alzheimer?s disease in mouse models. A major focus of her lab today is to identify and verify potential targets to slow or stop progression of this and other neurodegenerative diseases using genetic, molecular, confocal microscopy and behavioral approaches. Another current focus is on neuroprotection and potential therapeutic targets to enhance neuron survival and function. In addition, she is Co-Director of UCI?s MODEL-AD group, with the goal of generating new mouse models that mimic sporadic (late onset) AD.