Eric Dec
Biography
Eric Dec, M.D., is a Project Scientist at the University of California, Irvine, focusing on epigenomics of aging and VCP disease, and serves as Senior Medical Director at Molina Health Care Inc., where he develops policy for gene therapy and genetic testing. He received his M.D. from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and completed his internal medicine residency at Kettering Medical Center, followed by a Medical Genetics fellowship at UC Irvine. Dec also completed a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Stem Cell fellowship, during which he received stem cell training grants.
Dec has held positions in both academic medicine and industry. He served as Assistant Professor of Clinical Medical Genetics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and as Attending Physician at UC Irvine, where he taught medical residents and genetic counselors. In industry, he was Director of Clinical Medical Genetics at Human Longevity, Inc., leading genomics interpretation teams and developing genotype-phenotype correlation strategies. He subsequently served as Senior Medical Director at Evernorth, where he led the Embarc gene therapy program and served on the Medical Advisory Committee for specialty pharmacy and gene therapies.
Dec's research has focused on VCP disease, a condition affecting muscle, bone, and brain, using induced pluripotent stem cells to model disease pathophysiology and assess potential therapies. His work spans from molecular genetics, including his master's research on cytochrome P450 reductase, to recent contributions in epigenetic clocks for validating exceptional longevity claims and precision medicine screening using whole genome sequencing. He is board-certified by the American Board of Medical Genetics and maintains memberships in the American College of Medical Genetics and the American Society of Human Genetics.
Return to topEducation
- B.S. in Biochemistry, University of Denver, 1994
- M.S. in Biology / Molecular Genetics, University of Denver, 1997
- M.D., University of Colorado School of Medicine, 2003
Areas of Expertise
- Clinical Medical Genetics
- VCP Disease Pathophysiology
- Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
- Cytochrome P450 Metabolism
- Epigenetic Aging Biomarkers
- Gene Therapy Policy Development
- Centenarian Longevity Validation
Recent Publications
- Eric Dec, James Clement, Kaiyang Cheng, George M. Church, Michael B. Fossel, David H. Rehkopf, Luis Rosero-Bixby, Michael S. Kobor, David TS. Lin, Ake T. Lu, Zhe Fei, Wei Guo, Yap Ching Chew, Xiaojing Yang, Sulistyo E. Dwi Putra, Alex P. Reiner, Adolfo Correa, Adrian Vilalta, Chiara Pirazzini, Giuseppe Passarino, et al., “Centenarian clocks: epigenetic clocks for validating claims of exceptional longevity” (opens in new tab), GeroScience, vol. 45, pp. 1817-1835, 2023.
- B. Perkins, T. Caskey, B. Brar, E. Dec, C. Venter, “Precision Medicine Screening Using Whole Genome Sequencing And Advanced Imaging To Identify Disease Risk In Adults” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 115, no. 14, pp. 3686-3691, 2018.
- E. Dec, D. Ferguson, A. Nalbandian, M. Gargus, K. Veeral, P. Rana, A. Ibrahim, M. Hatch, M. Lan, K. Llewwllyn, H. Kieirstead, V. Kimonis, “Disease-Specific Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell modeling: Insights into the pathophysiology of Valosin Containing Protein (VCP) Disease”, Stem cell Research and Therapy, 2014.
- A. Brodel, M. Dieding, B. Klauke, E. Dec, S. Madaan, T. Huang, J. Gargus, A. Fatima, T. Saric, H. Cakar, V. Walhorn, K. Tonsing, T. Skrzipczyk, R. Cebulla, D. Gerdes, U. Schulz, J. Gummert, JH. Svendsen, MS. Olesen, D. Anselmetti, et al., “The novel desmin mutant p.A120D impairs filament formation, prevents intercalated disk localization, and causes sudden cardiac death” (opens in new tab), Circulation Cardiovascular Genetics, vol. 6, pp. 615-623, 2013.
- E. Dec, P. Rana, R. Dec, V. Katheria, M. Khare, VE. Kimonis, “Cytokine profiling in patients with VCP –Associated Disease” (opens in new tab), Clinical and Translational Science, vol. 7, pp. 29-32, 2013.
- Nalbandian A, Ghimbovschi S, Aizik S, Dec E, Martin B, Knoblach S, Smith C, Hoffman E, Kimonis V, “Global gene profiling of VCP-associated inclusion body myopathy” (opens in new tab), Clinical and Translational Science, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 226-34, 2012.
- Mehta SG, Khare M, Ramani R, Watts GD, Simon M, Osann KE, Donkervoort S, Dec E, Nalbandian A, Platt J, Pasquali M, Wang A, Mozaffar T, Smith CD, Kimonis VE, “Genotype-Phenotype studies of VCP-associated Inclusion Body Myopathy with Paget Disease of Bone and/or Frontotemporal Dementia” (opens in new tab), Clinical Genetics, vol. 83, pp. 422-431, 2012.
- Kimonis VE, Dec E, Vesa J, Badadani M, Watts DG, Nalbandian A, Caiozzo V, Martin B, Smith C, “Clinical spectrum of VCP myopathy, Paget's disease and fronto-temporal dementia; experimental models and potential treatments” (opens in new tab), Muscle Aging, Inclusion-Body Myositis and Myopathies, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, pp. 219-229, 2012.
- Kimonis VE, Nalbandian A, Llewellyn K, Khare M, Dec E, Wencel M, Yin H, Caiozzo V, Martin B, Smith C, Rafi S, Wang A, Mozaffar T, Weiss J, “New Vistas in Understanding the Pathophysiology of Valosin-Containing Protein (VCP)/P97 Disease”, Myopathies: New Research, Nova Publication, pp. 41-55, 2012.
- Nalbandian A, Donkervoort S, Dec E, Badadani M, Katheria V, Rana P, Nguyen C, Mukherjee J, Caiozzo V, Martin B, Watts GD, Vesa J, Smith C, Kimonis VE, “The Multiple Faces of Valosin-Containing Protein-Associated Diseases: Inclusion Body Myopathy with Paget's Disease of Bone, Frontotemporal Dementia, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis” (opens in new tab), Journal of Molecular Neuroscience, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 522-31, 2011.
- Smith CD, Martin B, Watts GD, Caiozzo V, Badadani M, Nalbandian A, Dec E, Vesa J, Donkervoort S, Kimonis V, “Valosin-containing protein (VCP) Disease and Familial Alzheimer's Disease: Contrasts and Overlaps”, Alzheimer's Disease / Book 1, Intechopen Publishing, 2011.
- M. Badadani, A. Nalbandian, GD. Watts, J. Vesa, M. Kitazawa, H. Su, J. Tanaja, E. Dec, DC. Wallace, J. Mukherjee, V. Caiozzo, M. Warman, VE. Kimonis, “VCP Associated Inclusion Body Myopathy and Paget Disease of Bone Knock-In Mouse Model Exhibits Tissue Pathology Typical of Human Disease” (opens in new tab), PLoS ONE, vol. 5, no. 10, pp. e13183, 2010.
- Hammack B, Attfield K, Clayton D, Dec E, Dong A, Sarisky C, Bowler BE, “The magnitude of changes in guanidine-HCl unfolding m-values in the protein, iso-1-cytochrome c, depends upon the substructure containing the mutation”, Protein Science, vol. 7, no. 8, pp. 1789-1795, 1998.
- Dec, E.K., Danielson, P.B., Fogleman, J.C., “Molecular Cloning and sequence characterization of NADPH cytochrome P450 Reductase”, Journal of Colorado-Wyoming Academy of Sciences, vol. XXIX, pp. 11-12, 1997.
- Dec, E.K., “Cytochrome P450 Reductase: The Molecular Cloning and Sequence Characterization of Cyotchrome P450 Reductase”, 1997. Thesis submitted to University of Denver.
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Last updated on 3/11/2026.