Aaron D. Gitler PhD

Dr. Aaron Gitler is a professor of genetics at Stanford University. One of his most pivotal discoveries was the identification of a major genetic contributor to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Aaron’s team recently demonstrated that inhibiting this gene markedly extends lifespan and improves motor performance in a mouse model of ALS, setting the stage for testing this therapeutic approach in human ALS. He has also uncovered the mechanism by which mutations in other genes cause ALS and has discovered a broad role for RNA-binding proteins in ALS and related human neurological diseases. Prior to Stanford, he was an assistant professor of cell and developmental biology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Aaron was a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, a Rita Allen Foundation Scholar, and a recipient of the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award and the NIH NINDS Research Program Award. Aaron holds a B.S. from Penn State University and did his Ph.D. studies on cardiovascular development in the laboratory of Dr. Jonathan Epstein at the University of Pennsylvania. He performed his postdoctoral training with Dr. Susan Lindquist at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.