Biography
Henry L. Paulson, M.D., Ph.D., is the Lucile Groff Professor of Neurology for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders in the Department of Neurology at the University of Michigan. He currently directs the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center and co-directs the Michigan Neuroscience Institute.
Dr. Paulson received his medical degree and doctorate in Cell Biology from Yale University in 1990. He then completed a neurology residency and neurogenetics/movement disorders fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1997, he joined the Neurology faculty at the University of Iowa, where he remained until 2007 when he moved to the University of Michigan.
Dr. Paulson's research and clinical interests concern the causes and treatment of age-related neurodegenerative diseases, with an emphasis on polyglutamine diseases, Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. In 1997, his lab described abnormal protein aggregates in the polyglutamine diseases, which now are recognized as a pathological hallmark in this class of inherited diseases. Using test tube, cell-based and animal models, he has contributed to advances in the understanding of various neurodegenerative diseases. His lab also helped pioneer the use of gene silencing methods as potential therapy for the many neurological disorders caused by "toxic" mutant genes.
Nationally, Dr. Paulson serves on the scientific advisory boards of numerous disease-related national organizations and is a past Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors at the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health.
Among his awards, Dr. Paulson is an Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar in Aging, recipient of the Paul Beeson Physician Faculty Scholar in Aging Award from the American Federation for Aging Research, an elected Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Areas of Interest
Mechanisms and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases caused by abnormal proteins; gene silencing strategies as potential therapy for polyglutamine diseases and dementia; protein quality control in normal brain function and in neurodegenerative diseases.
Clinical Interests
Neurology, Neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and hereditary ataxias.
Featured News
Michigan Drug Discovery’s Latest Round Has Technology Focus
A new round of funding from Michigan Drug Discovery is bolstering cutting-edge drug discovery technologies at the University of Michigan. The $320,000 in funding reflects MDD’s focus on securing new tools and platforms to support drug discovery research across the university.
NIH Awards $1.4 Million for Sleep and Dementia Research
Principal investigators Tiffany Braley MD, MS and Galit Levi Dunietz PhD, MPH were recently awarded $1.4M in new R01 funding by the National Institute on Aging to study unexplored pathways between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), OSA treatment, and dementia risk in older women and men.
Doctors Weigh Pros and Cons of Prescribing Hot-Button Alzheimer’s Drug
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Analysis: Rival Treatments May Help Justify FDA Gamble with Biogen Alzheimer’s Drug
Data from clinical trials of three experimental Alzheimer’s disease drugs expected to start emerging next year could help shed light on whether U.S. regulators were justified in their controversial approval of a Biogen Inc
Alzheimer Programming Set
The Alzheimer’s Association Michigan Chapter will feature COVID-19 vaccine updates by top Alzheimer s experts from the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center as part of its free March programming schedule.
Credentials
Medical School or Training
- Yale University School of Medicine, 1990
Residency
- University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Neurology, PA, 1994
Fellowship
- Movement Disorders, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 1997
Board Certification
- Neurology
