Dr. Ozdinler is Associate Professor of Neurology at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. She is also a faculty member at the Les Turner ALS Center, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, the Mesulam Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimers Disease Center and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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The Ozdinler lab is interested in understanding the molecular and cellular basis of neuronal vulnerability, with a focus on the upper motor neurons (UMNs) that degenerate in ALS, HSP and PLS. The Ozdinler lab generated and characterized the first reporter line for upper motor neurons and developed a novel drug discovery/verification platform that incorporates improved UMN health as a readout. Together with Dr. Silverman they identified NU-9, the first compound that improves the health of UMNs that are diseased due to misfolded SOD1 toxicity and TDP-43 pathology. Dr. Ozdinler is currently working towards understanding the mode of action of NU-9 and for the identification of pharmacokinetic biomarkers that inform about the timing and the extent of UMN loss. The lab also works to develop personalized medicine strategies with the use of novel - omic approaches, and gene delivery strategies, so that there will be no patient left behind when it comes to rare and devastating diseases.