Josep Dalmau, M.D., Ph.D., renowned for his studies of immune disorders affecting the brain and spinal cord, will deliver the next Flexner Discovery Lecture on Thursday, Feb. 23.
His lecture, “Antibody-Mediated Diseases of the Synapse,” will begin at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall. It is sponsored by the Department of Pediatrics.
Dalmau is ICREA Senior Investigator at the Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), University of Barcelona, Spain. He is also adjunct professor of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he founded the Center for Autoimmune Neurology before moving to Barcelona.
Dalmau and his team discovered a new category of diseases mediated by antibodies directed against neuronal proteins, including the NMDA, AMPA and GABA receptors. The antibodies disrupt normal brain signaling and cause psychosis, seizures, memory problems and other neurological symptoms.
Dalmau is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has received numerous awards including the 2016 Cotzias Lecture and Award from the American Academy of Neurology and the George W. Jacoby Award from the American Neurological Association.
For a complete schedule of the Flexner Discovery Lecture series and archived video of previous lectures, go to www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/discoveryseries.