Shahzad Ahmad
Senior Human Geneticist
Shahzad Ahmad joined IMCM core data team as Senior Human Geneticist in 2022. He read for an undergraduate degree in microbiology from Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan. He was awarded a foreign scholarship to study Master in Life Science Informatics at the Bonn-Aachen International Centre for information technology, Bonn, Germany. He obtained his second master’s degree as a part of the MSc-PhD program in Genetic Epidemiology at the Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, Netherlands. In August 2019, he started working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR), and afterward continued his research as a joint postdoctoral researcher at Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam and the LACDR, Leiden until November 2022. During his postdoc, he led a meta-analysis of genome-wide association study of neurofilament light (NfL) in the CHARGE consortium, and investigated the role of gut-microbiome, genome and exposome in driving blood levels of metabolites and their relationship with general cognition.
Over the last decade, Shahzad participated in multiple international consortia including the Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) ADAPTED program, Alzheimer’s disease sequencing project (ADSP), the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE), the International Genomics of Alzheimer’s Project (IGAP), and the Alzheimer’s Disease Metabolomics Consortium (ADMC).
More broadly, his research interests include Genetic Epidemiology, Metabolomics, Proteomics, cross-omics integration, Alzheimer's disease, and neurodegenerative diseases. He is passionate about translational research, and his current work focuses on the integration of multi-omics data for patient risk stratification, the discovery of new drug targets and biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases
Key publications
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Whole exome sequencing study identifies novel rare and common Alzheimer’s-Associated variants involved in immune response and transcriptional regulation
Journal article
Bis JC. et al, (2020), Molecular Psychiatry, 25, 1859 - 1875
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Genome-wide Association Study Meta-analysis of Neurofilament light (NfL) levels in blood reveals novel loci related to neurodegeneration
Preprint
Ahmad S. et al, (2022)
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Circulating metabolites associated with kidney function decline and incident CKD: a multi-platform population-based study
Journal article
van der Burgh AC. et al, (2024), Clinical Kidney Journal, 17
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Unraveling interindividual variation of trimethylamine N‐oxide and its precursors at the population level
Journal article
Andreu‐Sánchez S. et al, (2024), iMeta, 3
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TMAO and its precursors in relation to host genetics, gut microbial composition, diet, and clinical outcomes: Meta-analysis of 5 prospective population-based cohorts
Preprint
Andreu-Sánchez S. et al, (2022)
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Rare coding variants in PLCG2, ABI3, and TREM2 implicate microglial-mediated innate immunity in Alzheimer's disease
Journal article
Sims R. et al, (2017), Nature Genetics, 49, 1373 - 1384
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Genome-wide association study reveals loci with sex-specific effects on plasma bile acids
Preprint
Landini A. et al, (2022)
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Genetic predisposition, modifiable-risk-factor profile and long-term dementia risk in the general population
Journal article
Licher S. et al, (2019), Nature Medicine, 25, 1364 - 1369
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A Type 1 Diabetes Polygenic Score Is Not Associated With Prevalent Type 2 Diabetes in Large Population Studies
Journal article
Srinivasan S. et al, (2023), Journal of the Endocrine Society, 7
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Altered bile acid profile associates with cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease—An emerging role for gut microbiome
Journal article
MahmoudianDehkordi S. et al, (2019), Alzheimer's & Dementia, 15, 76 - 92
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Variants in TTC25 affect autistic trait in patients with autism spectrum disorder and general population
Journal article
Vojinovic D. et al, (2017), European Journal of Human Genetics, 25, 982 - 987
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Genetic correlations and genome-wide associations of cortical structure in general population samples of 22,824 adults
Journal article
Hofer E. et al, (2020), Nature Communications, 11
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Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies ancestry-specific associations underlying circulating total tau levels
Journal article
Sarnowski C. et al, (2022), Communications Biology, 5
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Prion protein codon 129 polymorphism in mild cognitive impairment and dementia: the Rotterdam Study
Journal article
Karamujić-Čomić H. et al, (2020), Brain Communications, 2
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Impact of cumulative SBP and serious adverse events on efficacy of intensive blood pressure treatment
Journal article
Rueda-Ochoa OL. et al, (2019), Journal of Hypertension, 37, 1058 - 1069
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Increased High-Density Lipoprotein Levels Associated with Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Journal article
Colijn JM. et al, (2019), Ophthalmology, 126, 393 - 406
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Multi-Omic analyses characterize the ceramide/sphingomyelin pathway as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer’s disease
Journal article
Baloni P. et al, (2022), Communications Biology, 5
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Immunity and amyloid beta, total tau and neurofilament light chain: Findings from a community‐based cohort study
Journal article
Fani L. et al, (2021), Alzheimer's & Dementia, 17, 446 - 456
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Circulating metabolites are associated with brain atrophy and white matter hyperintensities
Journal article
de Leeuw FA. et al, (2021), Alzheimer's & Dementia, 17, 205 - 214
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Multiomics integrative analysis identifies APOE allele-specific blood biomarkers associated to Alzheimer’s disease etiopathogenesis
Journal article
Madrid L. et al, (2021), Aging, 13, 9277 - 9329
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Plasma trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO): associations with cognition, neuroimaging, and dementia
Journal article
Yaqub A. et al, (2024), Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, 16
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Association of lysophosphatidic acids with cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers and progression to Alzheimer’s disease
Journal article
Ahmad S. et al, (2020), Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, 12
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Genome-wide association study of 23,500 individuals identifies 7 loci associated with brain ventricular volume
Journal article
Vojinovic D. et al, (2018), Nature Communications, 9
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Altered bile acid profile in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: Relationship to neuroimaging and CSF biomarkers
Journal article
Nho K. et al, (2019), Alzheimer's & Dementia, 15, 232 - 244
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Author Correction: Genetic meta-analysis of diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease identifies new risk loci and implicates Aβ, tau, immunity and lipid processing
Journal article
Kunkle BW. et al, (2019), Nature Genetics, 51, 1423 - 1424
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Unraveling Neuro-Proteogenomic Landscape and Therapeutic Implications for Human Behaviors and Psychiatric Disorders
Journal article
Repetto L. et al, (2023)
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Exome sequencing identifies rare damaging variants in ATP8B4 and ABCA1 as novel risk factors for Alzheimer’s Disease
Journal article
Holstege H. et al, (2020)
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Association of blood-cell-based inflammatory markers with gut microbiota and cancer incidence in the Rotterdam Study
Preprint
Najjary S. et al, (2023)
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Challenges at the APOE locus: a robust quality control approach for accurate APOE genotyping
Journal article
Belloy ME. et al, (2022), Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, 14
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Genome-wide association study of frontotemporal dementia identifies a C9ORF72 haplotype with a median of 12-G4C2 repeats that predisposes to pathological repeat expansions
Journal article
Reus LM. et al, (2021), Translational Psychiatry, 11
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Plasma circulating microRNAs associated with blood-based immune markers: a population-based study
Journal article
Leonard S. et al, (2024), Clinical and Experimental Immunology, 215, 251 - 260
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Genetic meta-analysis of diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease identifies new risk loci and implicates Aβ, tau, immunity and lipid processing
Journal article
Kunkle BW. et al, (2019), Nature Genetics, 51, 414 - 430
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Disentangling the biological pathways involved in early features of Alzheimer's disease in the Rotterdam Study
Journal article
Ahmad S. et al, (2018), Alzheimer's & Dementia, 14, 848 - 857
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In silico metabolic modelling links microbiome-derived metabolites to risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease
Journal article
Hensen T. et al, (2025), Gut Microbes Reports, 2
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Association of blood cell‐based inflammatory markers with gut microbiota and cancer incidence in the Rotterdam study
Journal article
Najjary S. et al, (2024), Cancer Medicine, 13
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New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
Journal article
Bellenguez C. et al, (2022), Nature Genetics, 54, 412 - 436
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Systematic comparative study of computational methods for T-cell receptor sequencing data analysis
Journal article
Afzal S. et al, (2019), Briefings in Bioinformatics, 20, 222 - 234
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Exome Sequencing Analysis Identifies Rare Variants in ATM and RPL8 That Are Associated With Shorter Telomere Length
Journal article
van der Spek A. et al, (2020), Frontiers in Genetics, 11
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Genome-wide association study meta-analysis of neurofilament light (NfL) levels in blood reveals novel loci related to neurodegeneration
Journal article
Ahmad S. et al, (2024), Communications Biology, 7
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Circulating Metabolome and White Matter Hyperintensities in Women and Men
Journal article
Sliz E. et al, (2022), Circulation, 145, 1040 - 1052
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Common and Rare Variants Genetic Association Analysis of Circulating Neutrophil Extracellular Traps
Journal article
Donkel SJ. et al, (2021), Frontiers in Immunology, 12
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Association of Altered Liver Enzymes With Alzheimer Disease Diagnosis, Cognition, Neuroimaging Measures, and Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers
Journal article
Nho K. et al, (2019), JAMA Network Open, 2, e197978 - e197978
Recent publications
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In silico metabolic modelling links microbiome-derived metabolites to risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease
Journal article
Hensen T. et al, (2025), Gut Microbes Reports, 2
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X‐chromosome-wide association study for Alzheimer’s disease
Journal article
Le Borgne J. et al, (2025), Molecular Psychiatry, 30, 2335 - 2346
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The genetic landscape of neuro-related proteins in human plasma.
Journal article
Repetto L. et al, (2024), Nature human behaviour, 8, 2222 - 2234
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Genome-wide association study meta-analysis of neurofilament light (NfL) levels in blood reveals novel loci related to neurodegeneration
Journal article
Ahmad S. et al, (2024), Communications Biology, 7
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Association of oxidative stress and inflammatory metabolites with Alzheimer’s disease cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in mild cognitive impairment
Journal article
Ahmad S. et al, (2024), Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, 16
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Unraveling interindividual variation of trimethylamine N‐oxide and its precursors at the population level
Journal article
Andreu‐Sánchez S. et al, (2024), iMeta, 3
-
Plasma trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO): associations with cognition, neuroimaging, and dementia
Journal article
Yaqub A. et al, (2024), Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, 16
-
Plasma circulating microRNAs associated with blood-based immune markers: a population-based study
Journal article
Leonard S. et al, (2024), Clinical and Experimental Immunology, 215, 251 - 260