Note (February 2025): Media reports and a statement from the National Institutes of Health have highlighted an investigation into research misconduct by Dr. Eliezer Masliah during his tenure as the director of the National Institute of Aging’s Division of Neuroscience from 2016 to 2024. The Michael J. Fox Foundation was not a party to this investigation and is aware of the findings only through public reports. Parkinson’s research by Dr. Masliah during his tenure at the University of California, San Diego, was supported by our Foundation through grants in 2001, 2008 and 2010. While high failure rates are to be expected in medical research, relevant findings from these and other projects have been independently replicated by research teams unaffiliated with Dr. Masliah. 

Dr. Masliah received his MD in 1982, completed his residency in pathology at the National Institutes of Health in Mexico City in 1986 and a fellowship in neuropathology at the UC, San Diego in 1989. Dr. Masliah is currently professor at the Departments of Neurosciences and Pathology at UC, San Diego and director of the Autopsy Service at the UCSD-Medical Center. Dr. Masliah has published over 500 research articles. His laboratory investigates the molecular mechanisms of synaptic degeneration in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases and is actively involved in developing novel treatments for these devastating disorders. Dr. Masliah’s laboratory was one of the first to develop a transgenic pre-clinical model for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases and at identifying alpha-synuclein as a major contributor to the pathogenesis of these disorders. The Masliah laboratory is currently developing new treatment for Parkinson’s disease using small molecules that block accumulation of toxic alpha-synuclein in the brain.