Lindsay Farrer
Profiles

Lindsay A Farrer, PhD

Professor, Biostatistics - Boston University School of Public Health

(617) 638-5393
Crosstown Center
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Biography

Dr. Lindsay Farrer is a medical geneticist at Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health where he is the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine Distinguished Professor of Genetics, Chief of Biomedical Genetics, and a Professor of Medicine, Neurology, Ophthalmology, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics. Dr. Farrer is a graduate of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, received his Ph.D. from the Indiana University School of Medicine, and gained additional training in genetic epidemiology at Yale University. He holds adjunct faculty positions at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Bedford, Massachusetts. He is a Founding Fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics. Dr. Farrer teaches several courses in human genetics and addiction science at Boston University, directs the BU Transformative Training Program in Addiction Science (TTPAS) that features transdisciplinary training for students enrolled in PhD programs across the Medical and Charles River campuses, directs Boston University’s Molecular Genetics Core Facility which offers DNA genotyping and sequencing services to investigators at Boston University and elsewhere, and provides genetic counseling and testing to patients with a variety of inherited conditions.

Dr. Farrer’s research has lead to more than 450 publications on genetic risk factors for several familial neurodegenerative and other chronic diseases. In collaboration with other laboratories worldwide, his group has localized genes causing a variety of rare and common disorders, most notably Alzheimer disease (AD), substance use disorders (SUDs), age-related macular degeneration (AMD), Wilson disease, Machado-Joseph disease, Waardenburg syndrome, hypertension, sensorineural deafness, and osteoarthritis. His group identified a functional genetic variant in the complement factor H gene which accounts for more than 30% of the attributable risk for AMD, the leading cause of progressive vision loss and blindness in the elderly. In collaboration with other researchers, Dr. Farrer is conducting genome wide association studies (GWAS) and whole genome/exome sequencing studies for several disorders including AD, SUDs (cocaine, opiates, nicotine, alcohol and cannabis), and AMD. Dr. Farrer’s team is also developing methods for locating genes that influence the natural history of complex diseases and pharmacogenetic response.

Under Dr. Farrer’s leadership, the MIRAGE Project, a multi-center study of AD funded since 1991 by the National Institute on Aging, has made several important contributions to our understanding of the interactions between genetic and environmental factors for the disorder. This study has a particular emphasis on the genetics of AD in African Americans. MIRAGE was the first study to demonstrate that genetic factors have a major role in the development of AD and that APOE e4 is more weakly associated with disease in men and persons older than 75 years. Dr. Farrer co-directed the international effort which demonstrated that SORL1 is genetically and functionally associated with AD, thus implicating intracellular protein trafficking as integral pathway in AD. His laboratory conducted genome wide association studies (GWAS) for AD in several populations including African Americans and an inbred Israeli-Arab community, and identified rare AD causal mutations in the AKAP9 gene which are specific to African Americans. Dr. Farrer serves on the Executive Committee of the national Alzheimer Disease Genetics Consortium and co-directs the data analysis effort for this large NIH-funded project. He is also a Principal Investigator of the national Alzheimer Disease Sequencing Project and a study to identify AD risk and protective variants in Koreans. in 2020, Dr. Farrer co-founded the Framingham Heart Study Brain Aging Program (FHS-BAP), an NIH-funded infrastructure program that continues surveillance of FHS participants for cognitive decline and dementia, conducts neuropsychological and brain MRI exams, houses the FHS brain tissue repository, and conducts several projects utilizing genetics, various omics, and wealth of phenotype data on FHS participants to develop predictive models, identify biomarkers and discern vascular and inflammatory processes leading to AD.

Other Positions

  • Professor, Epidemiology - Boston University School of Public Health
  • Boston University Distinguished Professor of Genetics, Medicine - Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Section Chief, Medicine - Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Professor, Medicine - Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Professor, Ophthalmology & Vision Sciences - Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Professor, Neurology - Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Investigator - Framingham Heart Study
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research - Boston University
  • Member, Genome Science Institute - Boston University
  • Member, Bioinformatics Graduate Program - Boston University
  • Graduate Medical Sciences Educator and Mentor (Primary Mentor of Graduate Students) - Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences

Education

  • Indiana University School of Medicine, PhD Field of Study: Genetics & Genomics
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, BA Field of Study: Genetics & Genomics

Websites

Publications

  • Published on 2/22/2026

    Tao Q, Ang TFA, Huang J, Itchapurapu IS, Mez J, Alosco M, Au R, Farrer LA, Zhang X, Qiu WQ. Blood PCSK9 Impacts Alzheimer's Disease Risk in an APOE Genotype-Dependent Manner: A Prospective Cohort Study. Health Sci Rep. 2026 Feb; 9(2):e71810. PMID: 41737429.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 1/13/2026

    Huang J, Rehman H, Doan C, Stein TD, Mez J, Ang TFA, Tao Q, Au R, Farrer LA, Zhang X, Qiu WQ. Circulating C-reactive protein influences polygenic risk of inflammatory genes expressed in brain endothelia for Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiol Dis. 2026 Feb; 219:107257. PMID: 41539445.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 1/1/2026

    Durant A, Mukherjee S, Lee ML, Choi SE, Scollard P, Klinedinst BS, Trittschuh EH, Mez J, Farrer LA, Gifford KA, Cruchaga C, Hassenstab J, Naj AC, Wang LS, Johnson SC, Engelman CD, Kukull WA, Keene CD, Saykin AJ, Cuccaro ML, Kunkle BW, Pericak-Vance MA, Martin ER, Bennett DA, Barnes LL, Schneider JA, Bush WS, Haines JL, Mayeux R, Vardarajan BN, Albert MS, Thompson PM, Jefferson AL, Crane PK, Dumitrescu L, Archer DB, Hohman TJ, Gaynor LS. Evaluating the association of apolipoprotein E genotype and cognitive resilience in SuperAgers. Alzheimers Dement. 2026 Jan; 22(1):e71024. PMID: 41542929.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 1/1/2026

    Choi KY, Kang S, Cook S, Li D, Choi YY, Seo EH, Han X, Park JE, Lee S, Lee S, Chung JY, Chong A, Choi SM, Ha JM, Song MK, Lee JS, Choo IH, Kim JH, Song HC, Kim BC, Kim H, Farrer LA, Gim J, Jun GR, Lee KH. The Gwangju Alzheimer's & Related Dementias (GARD) cohort: Over a decade of Asia's largest longitudinal multimodal study. Alzheimers Dement. 2026 Jan; 22(1):e70981. PMID: 41537461.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 12/22/2025

    Khurshid Z, Farrell JJ, Tong T, Zhu C, Martin ER, Bush W, Pericak-Vance MA, Wang LS, Schellenberg G, Haines JL, Lunetta KL, Leung YY, Zhang X, Farrer LA. Multi-ancestry exome-wide study identifies variants associated with Alzheimer's disease protection. J Alzheimers Dis. 2026 Feb; 109(3):1274-1286. PMID: 41428483.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 12/17/2025

    Khurshid Z, Tong T, Olayinka O, Farrell JJ, Zhu C, Martin ER, Bush W, Pericak-Vance MA, Wang LS, Schellenberg GC, Haines JL, Lunetta KL, Zhang X, Farrer LA. Interactive Effects of Telomere Length and Genetic Variants on Alzheimer Disease Risk Across Multiple Ancestral Populations. medRxiv. 2025 Dec 17. PMID: 41445639.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 10/1/2025

    Logue MW, Labadorf A, O'Neill NK, Dickson DW, Dugger BN, Flanagan ME, Frosch MP, Gearing M, Jin LW, Kofler J, Mayeux R, McKee A, Miller CA, Murray ME, Nelson PT, Perrin RJ, Schneider JA, Stein TD, Teich AF, Tobunluepop K, Troncoso JC, Wang SH, Wang Z, Wolozin B, Mez J, Farrer LA. Novel differentially expressed genes and multiple biological pathways for Alzheimer's disease identified in brain tissue from African American donors. Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Oct; 21(10):e70629. PMID: 41059714.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 9/27/2025

    Olayinka OA, O'Neill N, Empawi JA, Bock P, Hu J, Rickner H, Wong M, Stein TD, Wolozin B, Farrer LA, Zhang X. Single nucleus RNA sequencing unveils relationship between microglia and endothelial cells in mixed Alzheimer's disease and vascular pathology. Neurobiol Dis. 2025 Nov; 216:107128. PMID: 41022229.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 9/27/2025

    Kurniansyah N, Tasaki S, Rehman H, Zhu C, Farrell J, Sherva R, Hauger R, Merritt VC, Panizzon M, Zhang R, Gaziano JM, Gim J, Lee K, Lee DY, Nho K, Vialle RA, Mukherjee S, Trittschuh EH, Lee AJ, Brickman AM, Cruchaga C, Risacher S, Greve DN, Crane P, Martin E, Bush W, Mayeux R, Haines JL, Pericak-Vance MA, Logue M, Bennett DA, Barnes LL, Saykin A, Hohman T, Wang LS, Schellenberg GC, Ang TFA, Au R, Mez J, Lunetta KL, Zhang X, Farrer LA. A multi-ancestry polygenic risk score for Alzheimer disease is associated with cognitive decline, hippocampal atrophy and neuropathological hallmarks in diverse populations. medRxiv. 2025 Sep 27. PMID: 41040715.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 9/1/2025

    Alosco ML, Morrison M, Au R, Steinberg EG, Mwicigi J, Ly M, Altaras C, Lenio S, Abdennadher M, O'Connor MK, Tripodis Y, Palmisano J, Dixon D, Martin B, Schneider G, Groh JR, Ellison A, Sheppard D, Farris CW, Nowinski C, Cantu RC, Turk KW, Farrer L, Jun G, Goldstein LE, Qiu WQ, Stein TD, Budson AE, McKee AC, Mez J. Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Clinical Core: Infrastructure to facilitate research on post-traumatic Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Sep; 21(9):e70654. PMID: 40923312.

     Read At: PubMed

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