Christian Pike, Ph.D.
Associate Professor in Gerontology
Division of Biogerontology
Neuronal apoptosis, Alzheimer's disease, hormonal regulation of cell viability

Christian Pike, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in Gerontology and a member of the USC Neuroscience Program. Dr. Pike graduated magna cum laude from University of Southern California in 1985 and earned his doctoral degree in biological sciences from Univeristy of California, Irvine in 1994. His graduate and postgraduate studies investigated neurodegenerative mechanisms implicated in Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Pike's ongoing work remains focused on Alzheimer's disease and other age-related neurodegenerative disorders. Using a variety of cellular, biochemical and molecular techniques across several experimental paradigms, his laboratory is studying the role of neuronal apoptosis in neural diseases and how these cell death pathways are modulated by neuroprotective interventions. Current research efforts are elucidating the neuroprotective mechanisms of estrogen and testosterone and their role in regulating vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease neuropathology.

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