Dr. Cukier received her Doctoral degree from Baylor College of Medicine in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics where she generated a novel fruit fly model of Rett syndrome, a disorder on the autism spectrum, and was awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Cukier returned to the University of Miami and currently studies the genetics underlying autism spectrum disorders and Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Cukier studies families with these diseases, as well as examining minority populations for potential genetic differences. Furthermore, she is engaged in generating patient specific induced pluripotent stem cell lines to study the course of disease pathogenesis. Dr. Cukier has been awarded a New Investigator Research Grant from the Dale Schenk Alzheimer’s Association Research Roundtable Grant Program, a NARSAD Young Investigator Grant from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and the Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Disease Research Grant from the Florida Department of Health.
