Dr. Ole Isacson is a professor of neurology and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, a principal faculty member at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and the founding director of the Neuroregeneration Research Institute at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. He received undergraduate, doctoral, and medical degrees from the University of Lund, Sweden, followed by postdoctoral fellowship and training at Cambridge University, England.
The Isacson laboratory investigates novel therapeutic approaches for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). His fundamental research has provided novel concepts and discoveries, using embryonic stem cells and iPS cells to model brain diseases, convey therapeutic neuroprotection, and restore degenerated brain cell circuitry.
In addition to his academic posts, Dr. Isacson is a member of the advisory board for the Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center and serves as the executive director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Parkinson’s Disease Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cell Research Consortium. He has been honored by a number of awards in recent years, including the Fernstrom Foundation Research Scholarship Award (Lund University), the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: Lindahl Young Investigator Award, the Bernard Sanberg Memorial Prize for Brain Repair (ASNTR), the Druker Memorial Lecture Award (Boston), and The Kellermann Family Memorial Award, Maryland Stem Cell Foundation. He is a member of the Michael J. Fox Foundation scientific advisory board and the scientific advisory council for NeuroStemCell of the Eurostem Consortia. He is the current editor-in-chief of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience and has published more than 300 original peer-reviewed scientific articles and reviews.