Eliezer Masliah MD

Eliezer Masliah, M.D., was named director of the Division of Neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in July, 2016. Before joining NIA, he held joint appointments in their departments of neurosciences and pathology at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
As head of UCSD's Experimental Neuropathology Laboratory, he investigated synaptic damage in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy and AIDS-related dementia. His laboratory developed novel models of neurodegeneration as well as new gene therapies, small molecules and experimental immunotherapies for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Four of the experimental therapeutic approaches developed at his laboratory have now passed Phase I clinical trials. As the director of autopsy services at UCSD Medical Center, he also directed the neuropathology core of the NIA-supported Shirley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.