Dr. Gita Pathak is a geneticist focused on understanding the role of mental health in age-related diseases. The GAPsLab (Genomics of Aging and Psychiatry Spectrum), her research is supported by the K99/R00 and Alzheimer's Association grants. The GAPsLab is currently welcoming students and trainees for start dates in Summer 2025.

 

Dr. Pathak completed her postdoctoral training at Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry, where she was involved in applying multi-omic strategies (e.g., genetic variation, epigenetics, transcriptomics), with neuroimaging, peripheral immune markers, markers of cellular aging, and health informatics data to characterize observational patterns, pathogenic mechanisms and potential treatment targets in several complex traits including cancer, dementias, amyloidopathies, psychiatric disorders, and susceptibility to COVID-19.  She also served as an analyst for several high-impact projects, including the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium's Major Depression and the PTSD Working Group, the Gulf War project for the Million Veteran Program, and the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative. She also contributed as a communications coordinator for the Yale Postdoctoral Association and mentored PhD students through Yale’s Women in Science initiative.

 

Before her postdoc, Dr. Pathak earned her PhD at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, where her research on Alzheimer’s disease comorbidities earned the Dean’s Award in Research, and T32 Neurobiology of Aging fellowship.