Domenico Pratico, MD, FCPP

Lewis Katz School of Medicine
Alzheimer's Center at Temple
Domenico Praticò is a Professor of Neural Science at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” School of Medicine, where he also completed a residency program in Internal Medicine. He continued his post-graduate training as a Research Fellow of the Center for Cardiovascular Science at the University College, Dublin, Ireland. Next, he pursued a postdoctoral fellowship in the biology of aging at the University of Pennsylvania, where shortly after he was promoted to Assistant Professor, and later Associate Professor. In 2007 he joined Temple University, School of Medicine, as Associate Professor and Director of the Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Laboratory. Since 2011 he has been Professor of Neural Sciences at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. In December 2017, he was nominated the Scott Richards North Star Foundation Chair in Alzheimer’s research and appointed as the founding Director of the Alzheimer’s Center at Temple. His main area of investigation is clinical pharmacology with a special focus on the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in brain health, brain aging, and the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia. His early research includes pioneering work on the development of specific and sensitive methods to measure oxidative stress in vivo, which was instrumental for the first demonstration that brain oxidative stress is an early event in Alzheimer’s Disease pathogenesis. In addition, his work helped in defining the source and functional role that neuroinflammation plays in neurodegeneration. Pratico’s lab has been on the forefront in the effort to unravel the mechanisms responsible for the effect that dietary lifestyle has on brain health, providing evidence that extra virgin olive oil beneficial effects are secondary to the activation of important intracellular degradation pathways of unwanted materials. His group was the first to demonstrate that intracellular sorting and transport of protein is essential for neuronal health and that it can be a viable therapeutic target when it is dysfunctional. During these years, the main goal of his work has always been translating studies of the basic biology of brain aging and neurodegeneration into new therapeutics by implementing a comprehensive experimental approach which combines in vitro and in vivo models as well as human studies. Internationally known for his work on Alzheimer’s disease, brain health, aging and neurodegeneration, Dr. Pratico has authored over 290 original articles in high impact journals, and more than 25 chapters in thematic books. During his career, he has received many awards for his research accomplishments including the Irvine H. Page Award, Neuroscience Education and Research Award, Zenith Award from the Alzheimer’s Association, and Dorothy Dillon Eweson Lectureship from the American Federation for Aging Research, and the Paul W. Eberman Faculty Research Award, and The Marconi Science Award.
www.drdomenicopratico.com
www.praticolab.org