Gregory Merz

Gregory Merz is an Assistant Professor at UCSF's Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases within the School of Medicine. He uses cryo-electron microscopy to determine high-resolution structures of pathological proteins including alpha-synuclein in multiple system atrophy and tau filaments in Alzheimer's disease. His research compares protein structures from human patients with model systems to validate therapeutic targets.

Prior to UCSF, he completed his PhD at Cornell University studying protein conformational changes using copper-based pulsed dipolar EPR spectroscopy. His postdoctoral work at the Prusiner lab specializes in neurodegenerative disease mechanisms.

Publications focus on structural characterization of neurodegenerative disease proteins, with recent work expanding into viral protein interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic.