A discussion with the recipient of the 2017 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the Lundbeck Foundation’s 2020 Brain Prize, and the 2022 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience
Huda Y. Zoghbi, MD
Founding Director, Duncan Neurological Research Institute
Distinguished Service Professor and Ralph D. Feigin Endowed Chair, Baylor College of Medicine
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
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With supporting remarks by
Joshua M. Shulman, MD, PhD
Co-Director and Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair for Parkinson’s Disease
Research, Duncan Neurological Research Institute
Director, Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Professor, Departments of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Molecular and Human
Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine
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Globally renowned neurogeneticist Dr. Huda Y. Zoghbi has transformed the field of neurological disease research. Dr. Zoghbi first rose to acclaim in 1993 when she and Dr. Harry Orr discovered the gene that causes a late-onset ataxia — a balance disorder — and again in 1999 when she identified the genetic mutation that causes Rett syndrome, a devastating childhood neurodevelopmental disorder. Since then, she has leveraged her deep understanding of neuroscience and genetics to make groundbreaking discoveries for a range of complex neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

In 2010, she worked with a group of visionary philanthropists to establish the Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at Texas Children’s Hospital dedicated to studying and developing new therapies for pediatric neurological diseases. Studying childhood disorders, however, shed surprising light on many neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Zoghbi and Duncan NRI Co-Director and Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair for Parkinson’s Disease Research, Dr. Joshua M. Shulman, are now unraveling the genetics behind these devastating neurodegenerative disorders to develop new therapies.

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