P A R T
BRAIN STORM 5
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Matthew Farrer, PhD
NEW ROLES: Endowed Fixel Chair, director of the
Clinical Genomics Program and a professor
of neurology
PREVIOUS ROLES: Director of the Centre for Applied
Neurogenetics and a professor of medical genetics
at the University of British Columbia
RESEARCH FOCUS: Expanding the genetic
understanding of neurological conditions to
predict and prevent them
Malú G. Tansey, PhD
NEW ROLES: Endowed Fixel Chair, director
of UF’s Center for Translational Research in
Neurodegenerative Disease, and a professor of
neuroscience and neurology
PREVIOUS ROLES: Director of the Center for
Neurodysfunction and Inflammation and a
professor of physiology at Emory University School
of Medicine
RESEARCH FOCUS: Investigating the role of
inflammation and immune system responses in
brain health and the development of disease
Matthew LaVoie, PhD
NEW ROLES: Endowed Fixel Chair, co-director
of UF’s Center for Translational Research in
Neurodegenerative Disease, a professor and
associate chair of research in the department of
neurology, and a professor of neuroscience
PREVIOUS ROLES: An associate professor of
neurology at Harvard Medical School and associate
scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
RESEARCH FOCUS: Uncovering the early
molecular patterns responsible for the unique
neuropathology associated with Parkinson’s
disease and related neurodegenerative disorders
Stefan Prokop, MD
NEW ROLES: Fixel Scholar, director of UF
Neuromedicine Brain Bank and an assistant
professor of pathology, immunology and
laboratory medicine and also of neurology
PREVIOUS ROLES: Neuropathology fellow
and research fellow at the Center for
Neurodegenerative Disease Research at the
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
RESEARCH FOCUS: Detailing disease processes of
Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s using microscopic
study, image analysis and analysis of gene
expression and protein biochemistry