Dr. Jaime Grutzendler, newly named as the Dr. Harry M. Zimmerman and Dr. Nicholas and Viola Spinelli Professor of Neurology, focuses his research on elucidating mechanisms of neuronal-glial interactions in the normal and diseased brain, with a special emphasis on neurodegenerative disorders.
Grutzendler has been a leader in the development and implementation of advanced microscopy methodologies for imaging the brain in living animals. His research has led to novel insights into the dynamic behavior and interactions between neuronal and non-neuronal cell types in their intact in vivo microenvironmment and how these are disrupted in Alzheimer’s disease, microvascular and myelin pathologies. The ultimate goal of his research team is to design new therapies for these and other neurological conditions.
A native of Colombia, Grutzendler earned his M.D. at Universidad Javeriana in Bogota. He completed a medical internship in internal medicine and a residency in neurology at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He then held a combined clinical and research fellowship at the Alzheimer Disease Research Center and the Department of Neurobiology at Washington University, followed by further neurobiology research training at the Skirball Institute of New York University. After serving on the faculty of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, he came to Yale in 2011 as associate professor of neurology and neuroscience. In addition to his new appointment, he is director of both the Center for Experimental Neuroimaging and the Clinician-Neuroscientist Training Program, and is a clinician in the Alzheimer Disease and Memory Disorders Center.
Grutzendler’s research findings have been published in numerous peer-reviewed articles in Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, and Nature Medicine, among other journals. He is a named inventor on three patents. His research has been funded by grants from federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as private foundations.
In recognition of his accomplishments, Grutzendler was honored with the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award, the Dana Foundation Research Award, and the Ellison Medical Foundation Award. He has also been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
