Sarah Kaufman, MD, PhD

Sarah Kaufman, Kampmann Lab

[email protected]
she/her/hers
Neurology Resident
Joint position with the Seeley lab


Education

  • Neurology Residency Program, University of California, San Francisco (2022)
  • M.D./Ph.D., Medical Scientist Training Program and Neuroscience Graduate Program, Washington University in St. Louis (2018)
  • B.A., Molecular and Cell Biology - Neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley (2009)


Select publications

  • Sanders, D.W.*, Kaufman, S.K.*, DeVos, S.L., Sharma, A.M., Mirbaha, H., Li, A., Barker, S.J., Foley, A.C., Thorpe, J.R., Serpell, L.C., Miller, T.M., Grinberg, L.T., Seeley, W.W., Diamond, M.I., Distinct Tau University of California, San Francisco Prion Strains Propagate in Cells and Mice and Define Different Tauopathies. Neuron. 2014; 1–18. *Equal contribution
  • Kaufman, S.K.*, Sanders, D.W.*, Thomas, T.L., Ruchinskas, A., Vaquer, J., Sharma, A.M., Miller, T.M., Diamond, M.I., Tau prion strains dictate patterns of cell pathology, progression rate, and regional vulnerability in vivo. Neuron. 2016; 92:796–812. *Equal contribution
  • Kaufman, S.K., Thomas, T.L., Del Tredici, K., Braak, H., Diamond, M. I., Characterization of tau prion seeding activity and strains from formaldehyde-fixed tissue. Acta Neuropathologica Communications. 2017; 5(1):41
  • Kaufman, S.K.*, Del Tredici, K.*, Thomas, T.L., Braak, H., Diamond, M. I., Tau seeding activity begins in the transentorhinal/entorhinal regions and anticipates phospho-tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease and PART. Acta Neuropathologica. 2018; 136(1): 57–67. *Equal contribution
  • Kaufman, S.K., Svirsky S., Cherry J.D., McKee A.C., Diamond M.I., Tau seeding in chronic traumatic encephalopathy parallels disease severity. Acta Neuropathologica. 2021;142(6):951-960.


Selected Awards/Honors

  • Irwin Levy Prize in Neurology and Neurological Surgery (2017)
  • James L. O’Leary Prizes for Research in Neuroscience (2018)
  • Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Fellowship (2018)


Research interests

Several neurodegenerative diseases feature the early loss of specific neuronal subtypes, and the deposition of disease-associated aggregated proteins such as tau or TDP-43 in these neurons. In behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), von Economo neurons are lost early in the course of the disease, and accumulate aggregated tau, TDP-43, or FUS. Using a combination of human histopathologic studies and CRISPR-based screening techniques, I aim elucidate the mechanisms that underlie this selective vulnerability, and to identify the pathways that regulate TDP-43 mislocalization in bvFTD and other related diseases.


Other interests

  • Ultimate frisbee, trivia, travel, and coffee