AAAS Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion

Biography

Dennis Selkoe earned his B.A. from Columbia University (1965) and an M.D. from the University of Virginia School of Medicine (1969). Since 1975, he has been affiliated with the Harvard Medical School, where he became a professor of neurology in 1990. In 2000 he was named the Vincent and Stella Coates Professor of Neurologic Diseases at the medical school. He also serves as a senior neurologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a clinical associate in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Selkoe co-founded and serves as co-chair of the Harvard Center for Neurodegeneration and Repair. He has served on the Neuroscience Advisory Committee of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The focus of Dr. Selkoe's research has been Alzheimer's disease and related basic biological questions. In 1982, he and his colleagues found a method for isolating abnormal neurofibrillary tangles that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease and developed the first antibodies to them. Subsequently, he carried out extensive experiments on the "amyloid beta" protein (Aß) deposits found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. In 1992, his lab discovered that Aß is produced in normal cells throughout an individual's lifetime and can be detected through cultured cells. In 1999, he and his coworkers discovered that the presenilin protein was the long-sought protease that generates Aß. Such discoveries have led to progress towards understanding the formation of Aß and identifying amyloid-blocking drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease.