William Black Building 3rd Floor, Room 302-305 Tel 212.342.4119 Email sp30@columbia.edu Serge Przedborski Laboratory
	RESEARCH THEME: Motor neuron degeneration and Preclinical drug testing The research conducted in my laboratory is geared toward unraveling the molecular basis of neurodegeneration and devising therapeutic strategies to hamper the processes that cause neuronal death, the source of many debilitating disorders. To that end, my laboratory has concentrated its research efforts on the mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) provided by the transgenic expression of the mutant superoxide dismutase-1 (mSOD1). For the past decade I have extensively evaluated the role of the apoptotic machinery in the demise of motor neurons. It appears that apoptosis, which is a form of programmed cell death, plays a major role in the degeneration of spinal cord motor neurons in ALS. This view is supported by several publications from this laboratory, some of which are listed below. Through genetic and pharmacological interventions aimed at alleviating these cytotoxic changes, my laboratory was able to prolong survival and attenuate neuronal death in the mSOD1 mouse model of ALS. More recently I have also begun to explore the role of neuroinflammation as part of a non-cell-autonomous mechanism by which glial cells could hasten motor neuron death and contribute to the selective motor neuronal degeneration seen in this fatal disease. BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION : Serge Przedborski is the William Black Professor of Neurology and holds a joint appointment in the Departments of Neurology, Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology. He is also a faculty member of the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, the scientific director of the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Center and a codirector of the Motor Neuron Center at Columbia University. He received his M.D. degree from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium. He did his internship and residency in Neurology and Psychiatry at the ULB-Erasme Medical Center, Belgium. He received his Ph.D. degree in Neurological Sciences from, ULB School of Medicine, Belgium. His Postdoctoral research was done at Columbia University, where he became Assistant Professor of Neurology in 1991. EDUCATION AND TRAINING: 1992 Ph.D. Université Libre de Bruxelles 1988-89 Residency, Psychiatry Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles 1984-88 Residency, Neurology Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles 1983-84 Internship Hôpital Brugman, Université Libre de Bruxelles 1983 M.D. Université Libre de Bruxelles (summa cum laude) HONORS AND AWARDS : 1989-90 Houston Merritt Fellow – Movement Disorder Research, Parkinson's Disease Foundation 1996-99 Cotzias Award of the American Parkinson Disease Association 1998 The Doctor Harold and Golden Lamport Award for Excellence in Clinical Science Research 1999-2003 Editorial Board Member of Movement Disorder 2000- Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Neurochemistry 2000-2002 Member of the Scientific Committee of the Huntington's Disease Society of America 2001- Member of the Education subcommittee for the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology 2001-2005 Member of the Scientific Committee of the Muscular Disease Association 2001 The Schmitt Lecture in Neuroscience (Program in Integrative Brain Research), U. Rochester, NY 2002 The Sheila Essey Award for ALS Research (the American Academy of Neurology) 2003- Associate Editor The Journal of Neuroscience SELECTED PUBLICATIONS : Przedborski, S., Jackson-Lewis, V., Yokoyama, R., Shibata, T., Dawson, V.L., Dawson, T.M. (1996). Role of neuronal nitric oxide in MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6- tetrahydropyridine)-induced dopaminergic neurotoxicity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 93: 4565-4571. Kostic, V., Jackson-Lewis, V., De Bilbao, F., Dubois-Dauphin, M., Przedborski, S. (1997). Bcl-2: prolonging life in a transgenic mouse model of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Science, 277: 559-562. Liberator, G., Jackson-Lewis, V., Vukosavic, S., Mandir, A.S., Vila, M., McAuliffe, W.J., Dawson, V.L., Dawson, T.M., Przedborski, S. (1999). Inducible nitric oxide synthase stimulates dopaminergic neurodegeneration in the MPTP model of Parkinson's disease. Nature Med., 5: 1403-1409. Vila, M., Jackson-Lewis, V., Vukosavic, S., Djaldetti, R., Liberatore, G., Offen, D., Korsmeyer, S.J., Przedborski, S. (2001). Bax ablation prevents dopaminergic neurodegeneration in the 1-methyl- 4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine mouse model of Parkinson's disease. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A, 98: 2837-2842. Wu, J.-L., Vila, T., Teismann, V., Choi, I., Przedborski, S.(2002). Blockade of microglial activation is neuroprotective in the1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine mouse model of Parkinson's disease. J. Neurosci., 22: 1763-177.		IMAGE 1 Click image to enlarge. IMAGE 2 Click image to enlarge. IMAGE 3 Click image to enlarge. IMAGE 4 Click image to enlarge. IMAGE 5 Click image to enlarge.

Home   Contact Us   © Columbia University Center for Motor Neuron Biology and Disease