Haydeh Payami

Haydeh Payami, PhD, is Professor of Neurology and Genetics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. An immigrant from Iran, she received her PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, where she was trained as a mathematical geneticist. She is the founder and lead investigator of the NeuroGenetics Research Consortium (NGRC). Her work initially focused on the genetics of disease. Later, she expanded her search to include interaction of environmental risk and protective factors with human genome. Currently, she studies the interaction of gut microbiome, human genome, and environmental toxicants. Her aim is to put all the pieces together in the big picture, in order to identify the factors that trigger Parkinson’s disease pathology, biomarkers for early detection, and leads for improving treatment.