YOUNG, Anne: Massachusetts/USA

Bios

Anne B. Young Born December 30, 1947 in Evanston, Illinois. A.B. (chemistry) summa cum laude, Vassar College, 1969. M.D., 1973 and Ph.D. (Pharmacology), 1974, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Intern in Medicine, Mt. Zion Hospital, San Francisco, 1975. Neurology Resident, University of California San Francisco, 1975–1978 (Chief Resident during final year). University of Michigan Neurology 1978–1991. Recruited to CHIEF OF NEUROLOGY, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL, 1991–2012; JULIEANNE DORN PROFESSOR OF NEUROLOGY, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, 1991—present. Member: Institute of Medicine; American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and the Royal College of Physicians (Fellow). She is the only person (male or female) to have been president of both the Society for Neuroscience (2003–2005) and the American Neurological Association (2001–2003). As a graduate student, Young provided the first biochemical evidence of glutamate as a neurotransmitter of the cerebellar granule cells. She developed biochemical techniques to measure inhibitory amino acid neurotransmitter receptors in mammalian brain and spinal cord. As a faculty member at the University of Michigan, Young and her late husband (John B. Penney, Jr.) worked together to establish the first biochemical data that glutamate was the neurotransmitter of the corticostriatal, corticobulbar and corticospinal pathways. They developed film-based techniques for quantitative receptor autoradiography. They also provided evidence for the most widely cited model of basal ganglia function (the basal ganglia are the brain regions affected by Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases). The model has provided the springboard for testing novel interventions in Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases and related disorders such as deep brain stimulation. Dr. Young was a key member of the US-Venezuela Huntington’s disease Collaborative Research Project from 1981–2002 that found the HD gene and more. Dr. Young and her colleagues were the first to demonstrate gene expression changes in Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease brains. Dr. Young established what is now called the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND) in 1999. MIND brings together scientists at MGH concentrating on studies of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s diseases and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Labs are encouraged to translate discoveries into assays for drug discovery and animal models for drug trials. Dr. Young spearheaded the comprehensive drug discovery efforts at the MIND and has been successful in identifying drug targets for Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.