Rachelle Smith Doody is an American

neurologist Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

and

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, neural circuits, and glial ...

. She is known for her work on late stage development of drugs for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Education and career

Doody holds a B.A. in English in 1978 and M.A./Ph.D. in Cognitive Anthropology in 1992 from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

. She did her medical training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, obtaining her M.D. in 1983. After medical school, Doody took a year of internship in internal medicine at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and then returned to Baylor College of Medicine in Houston she did a residency in

Neurology Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal ...

, finishing in 1987. Upon finishing her residency, she began a Ph.D. which she would complete in 1992. At Baylor College of Medicine Doody founded and directed the Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center, was the Effie Marie Cain Chair in Alzheimer’s Disease Research and, as of 2022, she is Distinguished Professor Emeritus. In 2016 she moved to Genentech / Roche where she is the Vice President, Global Head of Neurodegeneration and the Alzheimer's disease and Neurodegeneration Franchise Head in Product Development,

Neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...

Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche, is a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX ...

Pharmaceutical Company and its US entity, Genentech. Doody is primarily known for her work on the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. For her Ph.D. she worked on cognitive anthropology, which included studying cognition among non-literate Karen hill tribes in Northern Thailand. Some of her early research was on alien hand syndrome where she worked to understand the condition in the brain with people exhibiting the condition. Doody led the phase 2 and 3 development of

donepezil Donepezil, sold under the brand name Aricept among others, is a medication used to treat dementia of the Alzheimer's type. It appears to result in a small benefit in mental function and ability to function. Use, however, has not been shown to ...

, a medication for dementia, and has worked to broaden the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Selected publications

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Awards and honors

Doody received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Rice University in 2009 and a Distinguished Faculty Award from Baylor College of Medicine in 2011. In 2018 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease Society.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doody, Rachelle Living people American neurologists Rice University alumni Baylor College of Medicine alumni Baylor College of Medicine faculty Baylor College of Medicine physicians and researchers Alzheimer's disease researchers Women medical researchers Year of birth missing (living people)