Biography
Ming Guo, M.D., Ph.D., is P. Gene & Elaine Smith Chair in Alzheimer’s Disease Research and Professor at UCLA Department of Neurology, Molecular and Medical Pharmacology. As a practicing Neurologist, she sees patients with memory disorders, neurodegenerative and neurogenetic disorders, referred from both domestic and international sources. As a researcher, her lab investigates molecular mechanisms of the two most common neurodegenerative disorders, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Mutations in PINK1 and PARKIN lead to inherited forms of Parkinson’s disease. Her lab is one of the first two labs worldwide to report the function of PINK1, and to discover that PINK1, a mitochondria-localized serine-threonine kinase, and PARKIN, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, act in a common genetic pathway to regulate mitochondrial integrity and mitochondrial quality control. Her work has wide-range implications for controlling processes in aging, and other aging-related diseases including other neurodegenerative disorders, heart disease and metabolic disorders. Dr. Guo is an elected member of the American Neurological Association (ANA), and has received many awards. She is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation fellow, a McKnight Neuroscience Foundation Brain Disorder Awardee, an Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar in Aging, a Klingenstein-Simon’s Fellow in Neuroscience, and the Klingenstein-Simon Foundation Robert H. Ebert Clinical Scholar. Her work is also supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) EUREKA (Exceptional Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration) award. In addition, she was selected to receive the ANA Derek Denny Brown Neurological Scholar Award that is given to one or two awardees each year, and the John Walsh Young Investigator Award, which is given to one Assistant or Associate professor every three years for their research creativity at UCLA. Dr. Guo is actively involved in community service. She is Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH/NINDS). She also serves as a member of a Blue Ribbon Panel for the NIH/NINDS, the ANA Scientific Program Advisory Committee, the Society of Neuroscience Program Committee, and the Scientific Advisory Committee of the A.P. Giannini Foundation in California.