Alison Goate facts for kids

Alison Mary Goate is a leading scientist who studies genes and how they affect our health. She is a professor and head of the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. She also directs a special center there that focuses on Alzheimer's disease. Before this, she was a professor at Washington University School of Medicine.

Alison Goate's Early Life and Studies

Alison Goate started her journey in science by studying biochemistry at the University of Bristol in the UK. After that, she continued her advanced studies at Oxford University, also in the UK. She worked with important professors like Theodore Puck and John Hardy. She even received a special research award called the Royal Society University Research Fellowship. This allowed her to do research at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London.

Awards and Special Recognition

Dr. Goate has received many important awards for her work. These awards show how much her research has helped us understand diseases.

• In 1993, she won the Potamkin Prize from the American Academy of Neurology.
• She also received the Zenith Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award (in 2015) from the Alzheimer's Association.
• The Metropolitan Life Foundation gave her a Senior Investigator Award.
• She earned the St. Louis Academy of Science Innovation Award.
• She was given the Carl and Gerty Cori Faculty Achievement Award in 1994.
• She is a special member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• She is also part of the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders.
• She was chosen to be a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
• In 2022, she received the Rainwater Prize for her new ideas in studying brain diseases.
• In 2023, Dr. Goate was the first woman to win the Piepenbrock-DZNE Prize for research on brain diseases.

Exploring Brain Diseases: Dr. Goate's Research

Dr. Goate's main research focuses on understanding the genes linked to Alzheimer's disease and other similar brain conditions. These conditions cause memory loss and thinking problems. Her work has helped scientists create special animal and cellular models. These models help them study the diseases more closely. Her research has also led to new ways to treat these diseases. These treatments aim to stop harmful proteins like amyloid and tau from building up in the brain.

Dr. Goate has led many research projects. She has also helped invent and receive six patents for her discoveries. A patent means she has the official right to her inventions.

What are Her Patents?

Dr. Goate's patents are for important discoveries that help us understand and treat diseases.

• APP770 mutant in Alzheimer's disease (1999): This patent is about a specific change in a gene that is linked to Alzheimer's disease.
• Mutant S182 genes (1999): This patent covers changes in another gene, S182, which is also important in Alzheimer's.
• Method for finding gene changes (2000): This patent describes a way to find small differences or changes in genes related to Alzheimer's.
• Transgenic mouse for Alzheimer's (2001): This patent is for a special mouse that has been changed to carry a gene linked to Alzheimer's. Scientists use these mice to study the disease.
• Pathogenic Tau mutations (2002): This patent is about harmful changes in the "tau" protein, which is also involved in brain diseases.
• Markers for addiction (2011): This patent identifies certain signs or "markers" in the body that can be linked to addiction.