Prabesh Bhattarai, PhD
2024 Toffler Scholar | Associate Research Scientist, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Biography
Prabesh Bhattarai’s journey into neuroscience began far from the laboratories and research centers where he now works. He was born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. In this city, opportunity concentrates amid striking natural beauty and profound socioeconomic contrasts. His parents had migrated to the capital from a rural village in western Nepal in search of work and stability, and Bhattarai grew up watching firsthand how geography and circumstance shape access to education and healthcare.
From an early age, one experience shaped his worldview more than any other. His older sister lives with cerebral palsy, a neurological condition that profoundly influenced his understanding of disease, disability, and resilience. In a system that offered few resources or accommodations, Bhattarai watched his family navigate barriers that extended well beyond the realm of medicine.
“That awareness never left me,” he reflects. “Even when I didn’t have the words for it, neurology was already part of my life.”
His mother’s work reinforced that connection. She spent more than three decades teaching at an institute in Kathmandu that supported children with cerebral palsy, providing basic education and life-skills training funded through international partnerships. Through her work, Bhattarai saw how knowledge, compassion, and persistence could change lives even in resource-limited settings.
Biography
Prabesh Bhattarai’s journey into neuroscience began far from the laboratories and research centers where he now works. He was born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. In this city, opportunity concentrates amid striking natural beauty and profound socioeconomic contrasts. His parents had migrated to the capital from a rural village in western Nepal in search of work and stability, and Bhattarai grew up watching firsthand how geography and circumstance shape access to education and healthcare.
From an early age, one experience shaped his worldview more than any other. His older sister lives with cerebral palsy, a neurological condition that profoundly influenced his understanding of disease, disability, and resilience. In a system that offered few resources or accommodations, Bhattarai watched his family navigate barriers that extended well beyond the realm of medicine.
“That awareness never left me,” he reflects. “Even when I didn’t have the words for it, neurology was already part of my life.”
His mother’s work reinforced that connection. She spent more than three decades teaching at an institute in Kathmandu that supported children with cerebral palsy, providing basic education and life-skills training funded through international partnerships. Through her work, Bhattarai saw how knowledge, compassion, and persistence could change lives even in resource-limited settings.
Research Focus
Bhattarai excelled academically, ranking consistently near the top of his class, and enrolled in a newly established biotechnology program at a Nepalese university. He belonged to the program’s first cohort, entering a field that was still largely theoretical in the country. Laboratory infrastructure remained limited, but the coursework introduced him to emerging concepts in stem cells, cancer biology, and neurodegenerative disease.
Although hands-on research opportunities were scarce, his curiosity only grew. He followed scientific developments beyond Nepal, reading papers and learning about the scale of biomedical research abroad. That exposure convinced him he needed additional training to pursue neuroscience seriously.
He moved to Germany to complete a master’s degree in regenerative biology and medicine at the Technical University of Dresden. The transition proved transformative. For the first time, Bhattarai encountered advanced laboratory techniques as routine practice rather than a rare opportunity. He worked in multiple laboratories across semesters, studying adult neurogenesis, multiple sclerosis, neuroinflammation , and stem cell biology.
“The jump was enormous,” he says. “What felt advanced in Nepal was foundational in Germany. It pushed me to grow quickly.”
By the end of his master’s training, Bhattarai had committed fully to neuroscience and neurodegenerative disease research. He joined the laboratory of Dr. Caghan Kizil, where he developed a zebrafish model of Alzheimer’s disease for his master’s thesis. The project demanded persistence. Existing models failed to capture key aspects of human disease, and Bhattarai needed to develop new techniques from scratch.
After months of trial and error, he established an acute Alzheimer's model by introducing toxic amyloid protein directly into the zebrafish brain. The approach created a controlled window in which disease-relevant cellular changes emerged rapidly, allowing the study of early pathological events that remain inaccessible in humans.
The success of that work led Bhattarai to continue his doctoral training in the same lab, where he expanded the model to investigate how neural stem cells respond to neurodegenerative stress. His findings contributed to a growing realization in the field: Alzheimer’s disease does not affect neurons alone. It disrupts multiple cell types long before clinical symptoms appear.
When Dr. Kizil relocated his lab to Columbia University, Bhattarai followed, continuing his research in a new institutional environment. At Columbia, he broadened his focus beyond stem cells to examine the blood-brain barrier and the glio-vascular unit. This complex cellular interface protects brain homeostasis.
His current research centers on how non-neuronal cells contribute to Alzheimer’s disease progression, for which he uses zebrafish, mouse and iPSCs as model systems. Bhattarai studies endothelial cells, pericytes, astroglia, microglia, and extracellular matrix components that regulate vascular integrity and immune signaling in the brain. Emerging evidence suggests that early disruption of these systems may allow toxic factors to enter the brain or prevent essential molecules from maintaining neural stability.
“Neurons don’t fail in isolation,” Bhattarai explains. “They exist in an ecosystem. If that ecosystem breaks down, neurons follow.”
Using zebrafish models, single-cell sequencing, molecular imaging, and immunohistochemistry, his work examines how genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease act within the brain's vascular and immune compartments. Several significant risk genes show strong expression in blood-brain barrier cell types, yet their mechanisms remain poorly understood.
Bhattarai aims to close that gap.
Receiving the Toffler Scholar Award and being promoted to Associate Research Scientist reflect recognition of Bhattarai's dedication and promise. This support inspires confidence in his capacity to lead independent projects and advance the field.
The award supports reagent acquisition, advanced imaging, and single-cell sequencing experiments that allow him to dissect cell-specific pathways driving vascular dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease. It also enables validation of findings in human postmortem brain tissue, strengthening translational relevance.
“This support gives me the freedom to ask questions that don’t fit neatly into existing categories,” he says. “That flexibility matters.”
Looking ahead, Bhattarai hopes his work will help reframe Alzheimer’s disease as a multifactorial disorder involving coordinated failure across multiple brain systems. By identifying early vascular and immune disruptions, he aims to open new therapeutic avenues that intervene before irreversible neuronal loss occurs.
Beyond science, Bhattarai values collaboration and openness. He believes progress accelerates when researchers share data, perspectives, and uncertainty. That philosophy aligns closely with his experience growing up in a community where collective effort compensated for limited resources.
For Bhattarai, neuroscience remains both a professional pursuit and a personal mission. His work reflects a lifelong commitment shaped by family, geography, and resilience.
“If we want to change outcomes,” he says, “we have to look beyond the obvious and understand what’s happening underneath.”