By discovering prions, Prusiner provided an explanation to the so-called "Rinderwahnsinn" disease, whose human equivalent is the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).
Prusiner discovered an unprecedented class of pathogens that he named prions. Prions are proteins that acquire an alternative shape that becomes self-propagating. As prions accumulate, they cause neurodegenerative diseases in animals and humans. To discuss their role within diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and others, Prof. Dr. Stanley Prusiner will speak at the Heinrich-Heine-University on Monday, the 27th of August.
Prusiner’s contributions to scientific research have been internationally recognized: He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and a foreign member of the Royal Society, London. He is the recipient of numerous prizes, including the Potamkin Prize for Alzheimer’s Disease Research from the American Academy of Neurology (1991); the Richard Lounsbery Award for Extraordinary Scientific Research in Biology and Medicine from the National Academy of Sciences (1993); the Gairdner Foundation International Award (1993); the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (1994); the Wolf Prize in Medicine from the State of Israel (1996); the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1997); and the United States Presidential National Medal of Science (2009).
Public lecture of Prof. Dr. Stanley B. Prusiner, „Prions Causing Neurodegenerative Diseases“, Monday, 27.08., 4:15 pm, Building 26.11, Lecture Hall 6 C, Floor 0, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf.