Dr. Paul Greengard, Karolinska Institutet's Bicentennial Gold Medal Recipient

NEW YORK, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dr. Paul Greengard, a Nobel Prize-winning neurobiologist and director of the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at The Rockefeller University, will receive the Karolinska Institutet's Bicentennial Gold Medal on September 23rd, 2010.  This medal is the highest award conferred by Karolinska Institutet during its 200th anniversary celebrations, and recognizes the work of an individual not permanently located at the Karolinska Institutet, who has contributed to the esteemed Swedish university's activities.  Since 1901, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has selected the Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine.

"Dr. Greengard is one of the most prominent scientists of this century," says Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson, President of Karolinska Institutet.  "His seminal work has revealed several of the mechanisms behind psychiatric diseases.  He has been a mentor for generations of Karolinska Institutet scientists, who have been inspired by his scientific leadership and by his extraordinary capacity to reveal the biological meaning and medical implications of a series of unexpected observations from the laboratory."

Dr. Greengard has authored over 1,000 major scientific publications, and on September 2, 2010, he published an article in the scientific journal Nature that has been lauded as a potential paradigm shift in how Alzheimer's will be studied, and possibly treated, in the future. The article, entitled "Gamma-secretase Activating Protein is a Therapeutic Target for Alzheimer's Disease," outlines the discovery of a protein in the brain that stimulates the production of beta-amyloid, a protein in the brain believed to be one of the biological causes of Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Greengard is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has received more than 50 awards and honors.  In 2000, Dr. Paul Greengard, together with his wife, the renowned sculptor, Ursula von Rydingsvard, used his Nobel Prize honorarium to fund the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize, an award for women scientists named in honor of Greengard's mother, Pearl Meister Greengard, who died giving birth to him. The award is to combat discrimination against women in science, since, as Greengard observed, "Women are not yet receiving awards and honors at a level commensurate with their achievements."

The Karolinska Institutet's Gold Medal will be presented to Greengard on September 23rd at the residence of the Swedish ambassador to the United States in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Kent L. Karosen, President and CEO of the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation adds, "On behalf of the Fisher Center Foundation, I want to congratulate Dr. Greengard on this very prestigious award.  Dr. Greengard's contribution to Alzheimer's research has shaped the course of modern investigation into the causes and possible treatment of the disease, and his recent findings continue to open new avenues of study.  We are honored to have such a world prominent scientist directing the work of our research center."  

The Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation is a leading source of funding for Alzheimer's research and education. We serve Alzheimer's patients and their families by seeking to understand the causes of, discover a cure for, and improve the lives of people with Alzheimer's disease.  Nobel laureate Dr. Paul Greengard directs the Foundation's team of internationally renowned scientists.  Of the money raised by the Foundation, only 8 cents out of every dollar is used for overhead and administrative purposes.  For more information about the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation, visit www.ALZinfo.org

Contact: Betsey Odell, [email protected], +1-646-381-5148

SOURCE Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation