Stanley B. Prusiner

Stanley B. Prusiner is Director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Professor of Neurology at UCSF, renowned for discovering prions—infectious proteins causing neurodegenerative diseases.

Research focuses on:

• Prion mechanisms in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
• Cryo-EM structures of pathological protein assemblies
• Therapeutic development targeting protein misfolding
• Transgenic models of neurodegeneration

Nobel Prize-winning work established the prion paradigm where proteins adopt self-propagating conformations. Current research demonstrates prion-like mechanisms in common dementias using structural biology and animal models.

Honors include the National Medal of Science, Lasker Award, and membership in the National Academy of Sciences. Holds 50 patents and has authored over 500 publications.