Featured Alumnus

"I continue to be pleasantly surprised throughout my career just how well UC San Diego prepared me."

Dale B. Schenk

Ph.D., 1984
Chief Scientific Officer, Elan Pharmaceuticals
President, Neurological Disease Foundation

Dr. Schenk has contributed much to our understanding of the role of beta amyloid in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. His current research focus is primarily on the development of therapeutic agents. He is the inventor of the A immunotherapeutic that has received national attention and is currently in clinical trials for treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Key Publications:

Immunization with amyloid-beta attenuates Alzheimer-disease-like pathology in the PDAPP mouse. Nature 400: 173-177, 1999.

Peripherally administered antibodies against amyloid beta-peptide enter the central nervous system and reduce pathology in a mouse model of Alzheimer disease. Nature Medicine 6: 916-919, 2000.

Imaging of amyloid-beta deposits in brains of living mice permits direct observation of clearance of plaques with immunotherapy. Nature Medicine 7: 369-372, 2001.

Amyloid-beta immunotherapy for Alzheimer's disease: The end of the beginning. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 3: 824-828, 2002.

Epitope and isotype specificities of antibodies to beta-amyloid peptide for protection against Alzheimer's disease-like neuropathology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100: 2023-2028, 2003.

15 issued patents.