Benjamin Wolozin is an American pharmacologist and neurologist currently at Boston University School of Medicine and an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Benjamin Wolozin, M.D., Ph.D. received his B.A. from Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) and his M.D., Ph.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is currently a professor of Pharmacology, Neurology and the Program in Neuroscience at Boston University School of Medicine. He is also co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics to treat Alzheimer’s disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
Dr. Wolozin has published over 150 papers, including publications in Science, Nature and PNAS. He has received numerous awards through his career including election as a fellow of the AAAS, the Spivack Distinguished Scholar in Neuroscience Award (BU), the Zenith Award (Alzheimer Association), Collaborator of the Year (BU Evans Center), Fellow of the Society for Skeptical Inquiry, Teacher of the year (Loyola University), A.E. Bennett Award (Soc. For Biological Psychiatry), Commissioned Officer Commendation Award (PHS), Donald B. Linsdley Award (Soc. For Neuroscience), Medical Scientist Training Fellowship, NSF Fellowship (declined), Hawk Prize for Biochemical Research (Wesleyan), Departmental Honors and Magna Cum Laude Latin honors (Wesleyan University).
Dr. Wolozin has extensive research experience in the field of neurodegenerative disease. His research investigates the pathophysiology of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. His research examines molecular and cellular aspects of disease, and utilizes a variety of transgenic models including mice, C. elegans, primary neurons and cell lines. Dr. Wolozin is also experienced in the study of human brain samples or cell lines from patients. His specific research interests emphasize the role of protein aggregation in neurodegenerative disease as well as metabolic consequences of stress linked to protein aggregation or cellular damage.
Dr. Wolozin's contributions to understanding of neurodegenerative disease cover a wide range of subjects. In 1986 he identified the antibody Alz-50, which was one of the first antibodies to identify the conformation specific epitopes of microtubule associated protein tau that are abundant in the brains of patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease. In 2000 he was the first scientist to show that individuals taking statins (a form of cholesterol lowering medication) exhibit much lower rates of Alzheimer's disease.