Michel Goedert, a Programme Leader in the LMB’s Neurobiology Division, has been announced as the 2024 recipient of the Karl Golser Parkinson Prize. This biannual prize, awarded jointly by the US Multiple System Atrophy Coalition and the government of South Tyrol, Italy, is given in recognition of research in the field of Parkinson’s disease and atypical parkinsonian disorders. Michel will receive the prize at a ceremony in Bressanone on 15th June.
The Prize is named after Karl Golser, who was the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Bozen-Brixen, South Tyrol, from 2008-2011, when he stepped down after developing corticobasal degeneration. In 2014, the Golser Foundation was started to aid people affected by atypical parkinsonian syndromes and to support research into these conditions.
Michel commented: “It is an honour to receive the 2024 Karl Golser Parkinson Prize. This would not have happened without the insight and hard work of my many collaborators over the years.”
Michel has led a research group devoted to the study of neurodegenerative diseases at the LMB since 1987 and has made several breakthrough findings. They include the identification of alpha-synuclein as the major component of the filamentous inclusions of Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy. Michel has also helped to establish the central role of tau assembly in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, including a number of atypical parkinsonian disorders.
More recently, Michel has worked in collaboration with Sjors Scheres’ group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division. Together, they are using electron cryo-microscopy to determine the structures of amyloid filaments from the brains of individuals with neurodegenerative diseases.
Michel’s research has been recognised by a number of awards, including the Brain Prize in 2018 (with B. de Strooper, C. Haass and J. Hardy), a Royal Medal from the Royal Society in 2019, the inaugural Rainwater Prize in 2020, the Piepenbrock-DZNE Prize in 2021 and the Annemarie Opprecht Foundation Parkinson Award in 2023 (with S. Scheres).
Further references
Michel’s group page
Celebrating Michel Goedert’s four decades at the LMB
Telling the tale of tangled tau in Alzheimer’s disease