Samuel E. Gandy, is a
neurologist
Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal ...
,
cell biologist
Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living a ...
,
Alzheimer's disease (AD) researcher and expert in the metabolism of the sticky substance called
amyloid
Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterised by a fibrillar morphology of 7–13 nm in diameter, a beta sheet (β-sheet) secondary structure (known as cross-β) and ability to be stained by particular dyes, such as Congo red. In the hu ...
that clogs the brain in patients with Alzheimer's. His team discovered the first drugs that could lower the formation of amyloid.
As of 2020, he is Mount Sinai Professor of
Alzheimer's Disease Research, professor of
neurology
Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal ...
and
psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry.
Initial p ...
,
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City. It is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, which manages eig ...
, director, Center for Cognitive Health and
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...
Neurological Center Mount Sinai Hospital, visiting principal research fellow, South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute in Adelaide, SA, Australia, and chairman emeritus of the National Medical and Scientific Advisory Council of the
Alzheimer's Association
The Alzheimer's Association was founded by Jerome H. Stone with the help of several family members in Chicago, Illinois, and incorporated on April 10, 1980, as the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association, Inc. It is a non-profit Am ...
. He was also founding director,
Farber Institute for the Neurosciences.
Research
Gandy has written more than 250 peer-reviewed papers, chapters and reviews on this topic. He has received continuous
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U ...
(NIH) funding for his research on amyloid metabolism since 1986. He holds four patents that can be implemented to regulate key proteins, inhibiting Alzheimer-type amyloidosis and a diagnostic method for Alzheimer disease,
Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is a neurodegenerative disease that is mostly inherited. The earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or mental abilities. A general lack of coordination and an uns ...
,
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
, dystonia ataxia,
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wi ...
,
epilepsy
Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...
, brain
tumors
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...
, brain irradiation,
head trauma
A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of in ...
, and acute and chronic
encephalitic and vascular disease. Gandy also studies brain imaging as a tool to confirm
chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse ov ...
(CTE) in retired athletes and war
Veteran
A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military.
A military veteran that h ...
s during their lifetimes.
Patents
*Use of phosphoprotein patterns for diagnosis of neurological and psychiatric disorders, (1989).
*Treatment of amyloidosis associated with Alzheimer disease, (1993).
*Method of screening for modulators of amyloid formation, (1994).
*Treatment of amyloidosis associated with Alzheimer disease using modulators of
protein phosphorylation
Protein phosphorylation is a reversible post-translational modification of proteins in which an amino acid residue is phosphorylated by a protein kinase by the addition of a covalently bound phosphate group. Phosphorylation alters the structura ...
, (1995).
Grants
Gandy worked on 36 research grants, 18 as principal investigator, since 1986. As of 2020, he works on nine active grants.
Partial list of active grants in 2020:
Editorialships and boards
As of 2020, Gandy is on the editorial boards of ''
Neurodegenerative Diseases'', ''
Journal of Neuroinflammation'' and ''
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
The ''Journal of Biological Chemistry'' (''JBC'') is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1905., jbc.org Since 1925, it is published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It covers research i ...
.'' He is an associate editor at ''Alzheimer’s Disease and Associated Disorders'' and ''
Journal of Neuroinflammation.''
Publications
Gandy has an h-index of 83 in 2020; a partial list of peer-reviewed publications include:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Biography
Gandy received his MD and PhD at the
Medical University of South Carolina
The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is a public medical school in South Carolina. It opened in 1824 in Charleston as a small private college aimed at training physicians and has since established hospitals and medical facilities acro ...
.
He did his
postgraduate
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree.
The organization and str ...
work at the
Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and
Cornell University Medical College
The Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University is Cornell University's biomedical research unit and medical school located in Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York.
Weill Cornell Medicine is affiliated with NewY ...
. Gandy completed his
post-doctorate at
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York (state), New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medica ...
, where he was appointed assistant professor in the laboratory of
Paul Greengard
Paul Greengard (December 11, 1925 – April 13, 2019) was an American neuroscientist best known for his work on the molecular and cellular function of neurons. In 2000, Greengard, Arvid Carlsson and Eric Kandel were awarded the Nobel Prize for P ...
, 2000 Laureate of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine ( sv, Nobelpriset i fysiologi eller medicin) is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or ...
.
Gandy was appointed associate professor of neurology and neurosciences at Cornell University Medical College in 1992. In 1997, he moved to
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, ...
where he served as professor of psychiatry and
cell biology
Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living a ...
until his appointment as Paul C. Brucker, M.D., Professor of Neuroscience at
Jefferson Medical College
Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the unive ...
and Director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences in 2001. In July 2007, he assumed his current post as Sinai Professor of Alzheimer’s Disease Research at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is also a member of the Research Consortium of the
Cure Alzheimer's Fund.
In 2009, Gandy was featured with other prominent research scientists as one of
GQ's "Rockstars of Science" and featured in the
documentary film ''
I Remember Better When I Paint
''I Remember Better When I Paint'' is a feature length international documentary film about the positive impact of art and other creative therapies in people with Alzheimer's disease and how these approaches can change the way the disease is view ...
'' that examines the phenomenon of how the
creative arts
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both h ...
awaken pathways to emotional parts of the brain.
References
External links
When It Isn’t Really Senility New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
March 2009
The Future of Detecting Brain Damage in Football The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
September 2017
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gandy, Sam
Living people
Alzheimer's disease researchers
Year of birth missing (living people)