Distinguished Service Professor
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas, United States
Huda Zoghbi, M.D., is a Distinguished Service Professor at Baylor College of Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and founding Director of the Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Zoghbi graduated from the American University of Beirut and received her medical degree from Meharry Medical College. She joined Baylor College of Medicine for residency and subsequently obtained postdoctoral research training in molecular genetics.
Dr. Zoghbi’s expertise ranges from neurodevelopment to neurodegeneration. She and Dr. Harry Orr discovered that spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 is caused by expansion of a polyglutamine tract. Her subsequent studies demonstrating that CAG expansion leads to accumulation of the mutant SCA1 protein in neurons has had profound ramifications since many late-onset neurological disorders involve similar accumulations of disease-driving proteins. Her work in neurodevelopment led to the discovery of the gene Math1/Atoh1 and showed it governs the development of several components of the proprioceptive, balance, hearing, vestibular, and breathing pathways. Dr. Zoghbi’s pursuit of the genetic basis of Rett syndrome led to her discovery that mutations in MECP2 cause this postnatal disorder. Her mechanistic studies highlighted the importance of MeCP2 levels for normal brain function. She provided the proof-of-concept data demonstrating that antisense sense oligonucleotide therapy can normalize MeCP2 levels and reverse phenotypes of a MECP2 duplication mouse model.
Dr. Zoghbi has trained over 107 scientists/physician-scientists and is committeed to educating the next generation. She has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her honors include the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize, Rockefeller University; the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences; the Canada Gairdner International Prize; the Lundbeck Foundation’s Brain Prize; the Kavli Foundation’s Kavli Prize; and, most recently, the August M. Watanabe Prize in Translational Research from Indiana University School of Medicine.
Disclosure information not submitted.
Breaking Down Pathogenesis of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Thursday, November 16, 2023
8:45 AM - 10:00 AM MST