April 10, 2023, 4-5pm
Streaming in Morrill I room N375
Dr. Stanley B. Prusiner, 1997 Nobel Laureate
Director, Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Professor, Department of Neurology and of Biochemistry & Biophysics
University of California, San Francisco
“On the Expanding Cadre of Prions Causing Neurodegeneration“
The Kaulenas Lecture honors Mindaugas (Steve) Kaulenas, whose contributions to UMass spanned thirty-five years, 1967-2002. As Chair first of the Zoology and later the Biology Department for thirteen years, he was an active researcher and enthusiastic lecturer focusing on development biology and the biology of aging. This lecture is made possible by the generous contributions of his devoted trainees.
Dr. Prusiner was awarded the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his foundational contributions to the discovery of prions as the pathogenic molecule responsible for fatal neurodegenerative diseases, including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Building on his initial discoveries pertaining to the prion protein (PrP), his laboratory also investigates beta-amyloid and tau prion formation in Alzheimer’s disease and other tauopathies, as well as alpha-synuclein prion formation in multiple system atrophy and Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Prusiner has received several awards for his contributions to neurodegenerative disease research, including the Potamkin Prize, the Lasker Award, the United States Presidential National Medal of Science, and election to the National Academy of Sciences.