Dave Morgan

Biography

Dr. Dave Morgan is Chief Executive Officer/Director of the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer Institute. He is also Professor of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology and Director of Neuroscience Research for the College of Medicine at the University of South Florida. Dr. Morgan’s research interests are brain function and aging with a focus on drugs to treat Alzheimer’s dementia. His doctoral research investigated the neurochemistry of memory and his postdoctoral studies addressed aging-related changes in rodent and human brains. Morgan became a faculty member at the University of Southern California in 1986 where his research projects focused on astrocytes and microglia in the aged brain, including Alzheimer's tissues. After moving to South Florida in 1992, Dr. Morgan participated in the development of a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (APP+PS1). He has developed methods to measure the damage occurring in the brains of the study mice and how it causes memory deficits. His work focuses largely on the neuro-immune interactions associated with the Alzheimer phenotype. He is presently testing amyloid dissolving agents, amyloid immunotherapy and gene therapy to treat the Alzheimer-like changes in transgenic mouse models of the disease. This work is supported by multiple grants from the NIH, private foundations and contracts from industrial partners. An antibody against the amyloid peptide that was characterized in his laboratory has entered clinical testing in AD patients. Morgan regularly sits on review panels for NIH and other agencies evaluating grants to develop new drugs to treat Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders. In addition to his research activities, Morgan has consulted with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies regarding the development of therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease, and advised capital investment organizations regarding the most promising therapeutic approaches to curing Alzheimer’s disease.

Research Interest

Biochemistry