Neurological Disorders

Miguel A. Pappolla

Miguel A. Pappolla, PhD
Professor, Department of Neurology
University of Texas, USA

Biography

Dr. Pappolla is currently a Professor appointment with the Department of Neurology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston . Dr. Pappolla received his MD degree from the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina in 1978. His training includes a PhD Doctorate in Human aging in Barcelona, Spain and medical residencies and fellowships in the USA in Neurology, Anatomic Pathology, Neuropathology and Interventional Pain Medicine (Anesthesia based). This training required 10 additional years of post graduate medical education, all pursued in programs accredited by the American Board of Medical Specialties.

Dr. Pappolla holds active board-certifications in 5 disciplines of Medicine (Pain Medicine, Neurology, Anatomic Pathology, Clinical Pathology and Neuropathology). His scientific work includes more than 100 publications and book chapters mostly focusing in neuroscience research. He pioneered the relationship between Alzheimers disease and oxidative stress and cholesterol metabolism with some of his papers reaching over 700 citations in peer reviewed journals.

Dr. Pappolla served for over 20 years as a consultant for the National Institutes of Health and a full Professor or Faculty at several medical schools in the USA (New York Medical College, LSU New Orleans, Mount Sinai Medical School in New York City, Medical University of South Carolina, University of Texas) where he taught Neurosciences and Neuropathology to medical students and medical residents for over 20 years. He has also served as Chairman of Neurology and Director of Neurosciences in one of the largest tertiary care centers in Mississippi, till about the time when his practice was disrupted by hurricane Katrina in 2005.

He then moved to the University of South Carolina as the Josephine Tucker Professor of Neurology but more recently relocated to Houston, Texas in 2008.

Dr. Pappolla's laboratory was among the first to identify evidence of oxidative stress in Alzheimer's disease brain.  In collaboration with other labs, he conducted groundbreaking research on hypercholesterolemia as an early risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. As a neuropathologist, Dr. Pappolla described several unique neuropathologic lesions including the colloid body of Parkinson's disease (later renamed "pale body" by Gibbs et al) and the ubiquitinated "dot-like inclusions" in aged brains.

Research Interest

Dr. Pappolla's research interest is in the development of treatments for neurological degenerative diseases. He has patented and developed novel neuroprotective agents such as OX-1 (now on phase 2 trial for Friedriech ataxia) and melatonin related analogs for Alzheimer's disease.