Roles
Founding Director of the Neuroscience Institute
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Biography
Dr. Leonard Petrucelli, founding director of the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has focused his career on deciphering the molecular mechanisms underpinning Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – work that has uncovered novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets instrumental to shaping the future of treatment development.
Dr. Petrucelli has built a powerful research program focused on understanding a key protein called TDP-43, which plays a major role in diseases like ALS and FTD. His team has helped reveal how a mutation in a gene called C9orf72, the most commonly known genetic cause of both ALS and FTD, damages brain cells. This mutation creates unusually long repeated stretches of DNA that lead to toxic RNA clumps and harmful proteins. He has also shown how problems with the protein TDP-43 disrupt the way cells process RNA, causing them to produce abnormal proteins that injure neurons. By combining basic laboratory discoveries with the search for measurable disease markers, Dr. Petrucelli has helped map changes that lead to brain cell degeneration, paving the way for more targeted treatments in the future.
He began his academic journey in Miami, FL, earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Barry University and later completed his Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biochemistry at Loyola University and the Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago. Over the course of his distinguished career, Dr. Petrucelli has secured an impressive portfolio of foundation and National Institutes of Health funding, including a prestigious R35 Outstanding Investigator Award and leadership of the ALLFTD2 (Advancing Research and Treatment for Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration) initiative, underscoring the national impact and sustained support of his research program.
Dr. Petrucelli has authored more than 400 publications with over 44,000 citations, earning a D-index of 113 and ranking among the top scientists nationally and globally. His work appears in leading journals such as Cell, Nature, Neuron, Science, and Science Translational Medicine, and he frequently shares his insights through invited lectures and other avenues. -
Education & Training
Education
Post Graduate Training
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Honors & Awards
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