Developing Therapeutics for Alzheimer's Disease: Progress and Challenges

Michael S. Wolfe is the Mathias P. Mertes Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Kansas. He received his B.S. in chemistry in 1984 from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry in 1990 from the University of Kansas. After postdoctoral stints at the University of Kansas (medicinal chemistry) and the NIH (cell biology), he joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee in Memphis in 1994. In 1999, he joined the faculty at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, becoming Professor of Neurology in 2008. Prof. Wolfe’s work has focused on understanding the molecular basis of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, and identifying effective approaches for pharmacological intervention. Awards for his work include the Sato Memorial International Award in bioorganic and medicinal chemistry from the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan (2003), the MetLife Award for Biomedical Research (2008), a Zenith Fellows Award from the Alzheimer’s Association (2008), and the Potamkin Prize from the American Academy of Neurology (2009).