Andrew B. Singleton is a British neurogeneticist currently working in the USA. He was born in

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

, the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

in 1972, where he lived until he was 18 years old. His secondary education was conducted at the

Guernsey Grammar School Les Varendes High School Les Varendes High School is a non selective, state-funded secondary school in St Andrew's, Guernsey, St. Andrew's, Guernsey. It takes in students from Amherst, Notre Dame, St Mary and St Michael, and Vauvert primary s ...

. He earned a first class degree in Applied Physiology from Sunderland University and his PhD in neuroscience from the

University of Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick un ...

where he studied the genetics of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

and other dementias at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Neurochemical Pathology Unit. He moved to the United States in 1999, where he began working at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida studying the genetic basis of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

ataxia Ataxia (from Greek α- negative prefix+ -τάξις rder= "lack of order") is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements that can include gait abnormality, speech changes, and abnormalities in e ...

, and

dystonia Dystonia is a neurology, neurological Hyperkinesia, hyperkinetic Movement disorders, movement disorder in which sustained or repetitive muscle contractions occur involuntarily, resulting in twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal fixed po ...

. He moved to the National Institutes of Health in 2001 to head the newly formed Molecular Genetics unit within the Laboratory of Neurogenetics. In 2006 he took over as Chief of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and became an NIH Distinguished Investigator in the intramural program at the

National Institute on Aging The National Institute on Aging (NIA) is a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), located in Bethesda, Maryland. The NIA itself is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The NIA leads a broad scientific effort to understand ...

(NIA) in 2017. In 2020 he stepped down as the Chief of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and became the Acting Director of the newly formed Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias at the NIA (CARD https://card.nih.gov/). In 2021 he became the Director of CARD.

Accomplishments

Dr. Singleton is best known for his work aimed at understanding the genetic etiology of Parkinson's disease. His first well-known work described the discovery of a triplication mutation of the

alpha-synuclein Alpha-synuclein (aSyn) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''SNCA'' gene. It is a neuronal protein involved in the regulation of synaptic vesicle trafficking and the release of neurotransmitters. Alpha-synuclein is abundant in the brai ...

gene that causes a severe, early-onset form of Parkinson's disease. One year later he led the group that was the first to identify mutations in the LRRK2 gene as a cause of familial Parkinson's disease, as well as the more common, sporadic Parkinson's disease. Since then, his laboratory has focused more on the complex genetics of Parkinson's disease, describing more than 90 common genetic risk factors for this disease. To date he has published more than 700 scientific articles.

Awards and honours

*Boehringer Mannheim Research Award in 2005 *Annemarie Opprecht Award in 2008 *NIH Directors Award in 2008 and 2016 *First Recipient of the Jay van Andel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Parkinson's Disease Research, presented at the

Van Andel Institute Van Andel Institute (VAI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit biomedical research and science education organization in Grand Rapids, Michigan. VAI was founded by Jay and Betty Van Andel in 1996. The institute's research focuses on cancer epigenetics and ...

in 2012 *Named as an NIH Distinguished Investigator in 2017
American Academy of Neurology Movement Disorders Award
for Lifetime Achievement in 2017 *Honorary Doctorate of Sciences from the

University of Sunderland The University of Sunderland is a public research university located in Sunderland in the North East of England. Its predecessor, Sunderland Technical College, was established as a municipal training college in 1901. It gained university status ...

in 2017 *NIA Directors Award for Mentoring in 2019 *Robert A. Pritzker Prize for Leadership in Parkinson's Disease Research *He serves on the editorial boards of the journals Brain, Lancet Neurology, Neurogenetics, Journal of Parkinson's Disease, Journal of Huntington's Disease, npj Parkinson's Disease, and Neurodegenerative Diseases *He is Associate Editor for Genetics at the journals npj Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders *Scientific Advisory Board of the

Lewy Body Dementia Association The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) is a US nonprofit organization based in Lilburn, Georgia, and "dedicated to raising awareness of the Lewy body dementias (LBD), supporting people with LBD, their families and caregivers and promoting scient ...

Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences is a scientific award, funded by internet entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan of Facebook; Sergey Brin of Google; entrepreneur and venture capitalist Yuri Milner; and Anne Wojcicki, one of t ...

in 2024 *Elected

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 2025

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singleton, Andrew 1972 births Living people British neuroscientists British expatriate academics in the United States Alumni of the University of Sunderland People from the Bailiwick of Guernsey 21st-century British scientists Fellows of the Royal Society