Rafael Linden

Background

About Rafael Linden

Dr. Linden received both the M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil, and is currently a Full Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Neurogenesis, and former Director of the Institute of Biophysics Carlos Chagas Filho at UFRJ. His research work is directed at mechanisms of neurodegeneration and neuroprotection, fundamentals of neuroprotective gene therapy, and prion biology. Dr. Linden is best known for his contributions to the understanding of the control of programmed cell death in the central nervous system, and more recently, for studies of the functional properties of the prion protein, involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. He led the Millenium Institute of Gene Therapy (2005-2008) and is currently a member of the Advanced Therapies Committee of ANVISA, of the the Editorial Boards of Frontiers in Neuroscience (Associare Editor, Section of Neurodegeneration), IBRO Reports (Editorial Board), Peer Journal, as well as of the Editorial Council of FIOCRUZ Press. His achievements in Cellular and Molecular Neurosciences led him to become a Senior Investigator of the Brazilian National Research Council, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow (2002), a senior member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and a member of the Latin American Academy of Sciences. In 2007 he was awarded the Grand-Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit, by the President of the Republic of Brazil.