Michel Goedert FRS, FMedSci is a Luxembourgish-British

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 ...

and former Head of Neurobiology, at the

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology The Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) is a research institute in Cambridge, England, involved in the revolution in molecular biology which occurred in the 1950–60s. Since then it has remained a major medical r ...

. Goedert was born and raised in Luxembourg. After finishing his medical studies at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

in 1986, he started working at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology affiliated with the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. Goedert was awarded the Metlife Foundation Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease in 1996, the Potamkin Prize in 1998 and the ''European Grand Prix for Research'' by the Foundation for Research on Alzheimer's disease in 2014. In 2018 he was one of four recipients of the

Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Prize The Brain Prize, formerly known as The Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Prize, is an international scientific award honouring "one or more scientists who have distinguished themselves by an outstanding contribution to neuroscience and who are ...

with the citation "For their groundbreaking research on the genetic and molecular basis of Alzheimer's disease, with far-reaching implications for the development of new therapeutic interventions as well as for the understanding of other neurodegenerative diseases of the brain". In 2019 he received the Royal Medal. and the Rainwater Charitable Foundation prize for outstanding innovation in neurodegenerative disorder research. He is married to Maria Grazia Spillantini, a geneticist with whom he has one son, Thomas.

Research

Goedert's work combines biochemical, molecular biological and structural techniques to investigate common neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and

Parkinson's Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. His research focused on the abnormal filamentous inclusions that characterise Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, showing that the intracellular filaments of these diseases are made of either

alpha-synuclein Alpha-synuclein is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the ''SNCA'' gene. Alpha-synuclein is a neuronal protein that regulates synaptic vesicle trafficking and subsequent neurotransmitter release. It is abundant in the brain, while smaller a ...

tau protein The tau proteins (abbreviated from tubulin associated unit) are a group of six highly soluble protein isoforms produced by alternative splicing from the gene ''MAPT'' (microtubule-associated protein tau). They have roles primarily in maintaining ...

. Goedert's team identified mutations in ''MAPT'', the tau gene, that cause rare inherited forms of frontotemporal dementia with tau inclusions, establishing a central role for tau assembly in the disease.

Works

References

External links

Dr Michel Goedert
*http://www.prion2014.org/images/bio_Goedert.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Goedert, Michel 20th-century births Living people British neuroscientists University of Basel alumni Academics of the University of Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Royal Medal winners Alumni of the Athénée de Luxembourg Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)