Dennis Selkoe, MD
Dennis J. Selkoe, MD, Vincent and Stella Coates Professor of Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School; Co-founder and Co-director, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. A graduate of Columbia University and the University of Virginia School of Medicine, he trained at the National Institutes of Health, the Harvard Longwood Neurology Program, and Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Selkoe’s career over more than 35 years has focused on the molecular origins of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). He has conducted extensive research on amyloid β-protein (Aβ) and its precursor (APP), helping to formulate a theory of AD causation: the ‘amyloid hypothesis’. His lab has made numerous groundbreaking discoveries about AD, including the discovery of lifelong Aβ production by all mammals, and the identity of γ-secretase as presenilin. His findings have provided the rationale for numerous clinical trials in AD now underway worldwide. Recently, his lab has made analogous discoveries about very early events in PD.
Dr. Selkoe was the founding scientist of Athena Neurosciences (later acquired by Elan) and is a founding director of Prothena Biosciences. Honors include the A.H. Heineken Prize for Medicine; Solowey Award in Neuroscience (NIH); Potamkin Prize and George C. Cotzias Prize (American Academy of Neurology); Pioneer Award and Lifetime Achievement Award (Alzheimer’s Association); and Ulysses Medal (UCD). He is listed in the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds (Science Watch, Thompson Reuters). Dr. Selkoe is a Fellow of the AAAS and the AAN and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2005.