Rate My Professor Bruce Yankner

Bruce A. Yankner, M.D., Ph.D., is Professor of Genetics and Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging, Director of the Harvard Neurodegeneration Training Program, and Co-Chair of the Harvard Initiative on Aging. He graduated from Princeton University, received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford University, and completed a residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. His research has advanced understanding of pathogenic mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease, Down’s syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, and brain aging, beginning with the observation that amyloid beta protein is toxic and including studies of presenilin proteins, Notch and Wnt signaling, the transcriptome of the aging human brain, DNA damage in brain aging, and a gene network controlled by the transcriptional repressor REST that promotes neuronal survival and stress resistance. Recent work has identified lithium as an endogenous biologically active element in the brain with potential roles in aging and Alzheimer’s disease. He has received the Major Award for Medical Research from the Metropolitan Life Foundation, the Derek Denny-Brown Neurological Scholar Award from the American Neurological Association, the Irving S. Cooper Award from the Mayo Clinic, the Zenith Award from the Alzheimer’s Association, the Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Award, the Joseph A. Pignolo Award from the University of Pennsylvania, the Aging Mind Foundation Award, the Nathan W. Shock Award from the National Institute on Aging, the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, and the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award.