Michael J. Brownstein

Biography

 Dr. Brownstein earned his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and completed his medical training at University of Chicago, where he received his MD and PhD in pharmacology.  He brings nearly forty years of research experience in the fields of genetics, genomics, neuroendocrinology and pharmacology to the company’s drug development program. He joined the National Institute of Health to work with Julius Axelrod, recipient of a Nobel Prize in 1970 for his work in the field of neuropharmacology, and stayed there after completing his fellowship. Later Dr. Brownstein served as Chief of the Laboratory of Cell Biology of the National Institute of Mental Health (“NIMH”), and subsequently was made Chief of the Laboratory of Genetics of the NIMH and the National Human Genome Research Institute. He then headed the functional genomics program at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, MD. While at the NIMH, he directed the work in Bethesda on the Brain Molecular Anatomy Project, the goal of which was to catalog genes expressed in the nervous system. Simultaneously, he contributed to the Mammalian Gene Collection, a trans-institutional effort to clone and sequence cDNAs corresponding to all human, mouse, and rat transcripts. He has published more than 200 papers in peer reviewed journals, has served on several editorial boards, and continues to serve on several scientific advisory boards and boards of directors. He has also participated in founding several successful bio-pharmaceutical companies.

Research Interest

 Genetics