[OC-02] Research frontline of hereditary cerebellar ataxias

[OC-02-2] Repeat associated Non-AUG initiated (RAN) translation in Fragile X-associated Tremor Ataxia Syndrome

^○Peter K. Todd (University of Michigan, USA)

Peter K. Todd, M.D., Ph.D., is the Bucky and Patti Harris Collegiate Professor of Neurology at the University of Michigan. Dr. Todd completed his MD and PhD at the University of Wisconsin, his Neurology Residency at the University of Pennsylvania and research intensive fellowship in movement disorders and neurogenetics at the University of Michigan under the tutelage of Dr. Henry Paulson. Dr. Todd’s research focuses on neurological disorders that result from nucleotide repeat expansions. His lab aims to define the pathogenic mechanisms by which these repeat expansions elicit human diseases such as ALS and Fragile X-associated disorders and develop therapeutics for those conditions based on these insights. His group has made significant contributions to this research field by defining a novel mechanism by which repeats cause disease through aberrant protein translation- a process known as “RAN Translation”. He has won numerous awards, including the S. Weir Mitchell Award from the American Academy of Neurology, the Hagerman Research Prize from the National Fragile X Foundation, and the Basic Science Research Award from the University Of Michigan School Of Medicine. Clinically, Dr. Todd co-directs the Michigan Fragile X and Ataxia Clinics and is inaugural director of the Michigan Neurogenetics Clinical Research Program.