Early Detection, Lasting Impact: Saima Rathore on Improving Alzheimer’s Care
By Elizabeth Nemeti
Dr. Saima Rathore, PhD
For many scientists, the ultimate goal isn't just making new discoveries—it's seeing those discoveries make a real difference in people’s lives. Saima Rathore, an Assistant Professor at Emory University, experienced this firsthand when her research helped an Alzheimer’s drug move closer to approval.
“Realizing that my research directly contributed to accelerating treatments and offering hope to patients and families reinforced my passion for this work,” says Rathore.
Rathore’s early research sparked her fascination with the brain’s complexity and neurodegenerative diseases. Moments like these reinforce her commitment to bridging Alzheimer’s biomarker research and patient-centered outcomes. “It was a powerful reminder that translating science into having real-world impact is what drives me every day,” she says.
Rathore’s formative research experiences in Pakistan deeply influenced her scientific approach by instilling innovative thinking, resilience, and a commitment to global collaboration. She completed her PhD in Computer Science in 2015 at the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Image by Eka P Amdela on Unsplash
Limited access to advanced technologies and funding taught her to make the most of available resources, pushed her to think critically, and craft creative solutions to complex problems – skills she continues to apply in her work today. She learned how to connect with researchers worldwide, leverage open-source tools, and contribute meaningfully to international scientific discourse despite geographical and resource limitations. This gave her a deep appreciation for collaboration and the importance of a global scientific perspective. The experience shaped her current research approach, driving collaborations across disciplines to tackle complex problems in neurodegenerative diseases.
Rathore then pursued a position as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania from 2015-2020. Following this experience, she transitioned to industry at Eli Lilly. Rathore’s experience bridging academia and industry uniquely shaped her approach to Alzheimer's research. Working in industry required her to shift from academia’s focus on hypothesis-driven discovery and deep exploration of scientific questions to industry research, which she describes as “more structured, goal-oriented, and directly tied to patient outcomes.”
Industry’s tight deadlines taught her to prioritize research questions, streamline data analysis, navigate regulatory constraints, and balance scientific rigor with translational impact, all while preserving scientific integrity. This first hand exposure to the drug development pipeline, from biomarker discovery to clinical approval, gave her a powerful new perspective. She recognized how imaging and proteomics could move beyond solely scientific discovery and enhance clinical trial design, improve patient stratification, and meaningfully boost therapeutic outcomes for Alzheimer’s patients.
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PET imaging visualizes metabolic activity in the brain, effectively detecting early Alzheimer’s pathology. However, high costs and limited availability restrict routine use. Distinguishing early disease from normal aging is challenging, as amyloid and tau proteins accumulate long before symptoms appear. Rathore addresses these limitations by integrating PET imaging with proteomics, the study of proteins and their cellular functions, and genomics. She employs advanced computational models to enhance early detection and predict disease trajectories.
She emphasizes that “proteomics is transforming Alzheimer’s research,” because it identifies molecular changes in neuroinflammation, synaptic dysfunction, and vascular pathology even before structural brain changes appear on imaging. Her multimodal approach moves the field toward scalable, non-invasive biomarkers, enabling early intervention and precise care.
Looking forward, Rathore envisions refining predictive models that personalize Alzheimer’s disease trajectories, optimizing clinical trial design, and accelerating targeted treatments. She integrates imaging, proteomics, and genomics to achieve earlier diagnosis and better patient outcomes.
“I hope people recognize the power of multi-modal biomarkers,” she says. Rathore believes strongly in bridging the gap between scientific discovery and clinical application, turning precision medicine from concept into reality. Her innovative, collaborative and data-driven approach offers renewed hope to patients, families, and researchers.
