MICHAEL BROWNSTEIN

Scientific Advisor, Consultant

Dr. Brownstein brings over thirty years of research experience in the fields of genetics, endocrinology and pharmacology and to Avineuro’s drug development program. Dr. Brownstein joined the National Institute of Health to work with Julius Axelrod, recipient of a Nobel Prize in 1970 for his work in neuropharmacology, and remained at NIH after completing his fellowship. Dr. Brownstein served at the NIH as Chief of the Laboratory of Genetics of the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Human Genome Research Institute. While at the NIMH/NHGRI, he directed the Brain Molecular Anatomy Project, with the goal to catalog all genes expressed in the nervous system. Simultaneously, he contributed to the Mammalian Gene Collection, a trans-Institutional effort to clone and sequence cDNAs corresponding to all human, mouse, and rat transcripts. He has since directed the functional genomics program at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, MD.

He has worked in the fields of neurobiology, neuroendocrinology, biochemical pharmacology, genetics, and genomics, and is especially interested in developing novel diagnostic tools and therapeutic agents. He has published more than 200 papers in peer reviewed journals, served on major editorial boards and continues to serve on a number of scientific advisory boards including the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Translational Genomics Research Institute. Dr. Brownstein has also co-founded several successful bio-pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Brownstein earned his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and completed his graduate training at University of Chicago, where he received his M.D. and Ph.D. in pharmacology.