William Langston

Dr. J. William Langston is the founder, CEO, and Scientific Director of the Parkinson's Institute. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Medicine and was formerly a faculty member at Stanford University and chairman of neurology at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California. Dr. Langston has authored or co-authored over 250 professional publications in the field of neurology, most of which are on Parkinson's disease and related disorders. Dr. Langston gained national and international recognition in 1982 for the discovery of the link between a "synthetic heroin" contaminant and parkinsonism. This contaminant, known as MPTP (which sometimes taints MPPP, an effective synthetic opioid), is selectively toxic to the same nerve cells in the brain which die in Parkinson's disease, the Substantia nigra. The discovery of the biologic effects of this compound led to a renaissance of the basic and clinical research in Parkinson's disease. MPTP allowed the first animal representation of Parkinson's disease.

Dr. Langston's current research interests include the study of mechanisms of neuronal degeneration, the etiology of Parkinson's disease, and the development of new strategies to slow or halt disease progression. He has received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Achievement Award from Modern Medicine, the Sarah M. Poiley Award from the New York Academy of Sciences, the 30th Anniversary Award from the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, the Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award from Roche Pharmaceuticals, and most recently the 1999 Movement Disorders Research Award from the American Academy of Neurology. He wrote a book about his discovery. The Case of the Frozen Addicts. (ISBN 0-679-42465-2)

Selected publications

• Langston JW, Ballard P, Tetrud JW, Irwin I (Feb 1983). "Chronic parkinsonism in humans due to a product of meperidine-analog synthesis". Science 219 (4587): 979–80. doi:10.1126/science.6823561. PMID 6823561. 
• Calne DB, Langston JW (Dec 1983). "Aetiology of Parkinson's disease". Lancet 2 (8365–66): 1457–9. PMID 6140548. 
• Langston JW, Forno LS, Rebert CS, Irwin I (Feb 1984). "Selective nigral toxicity after systemic administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyrine (MPTP) in the squirrel monkey". Brain Res 292 (2): 390–4. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(84)90777-7. PMID 6607092. 
• Langston JW, Irwin I, Langston EB, Forno LS (Sep 1984). "Pargyline prevents MPTP-induced parkinsonism in primates". Science 225 (4669): 1480–2. doi:10.1126/science.6332378. PMID 6332378. 
• Langston JW, Forno LS, Rebert CS, Irwin I (Feb 1984). "Selective nigral toxicity after systemic administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyrine (MPTP) in the squirrel monkey". Brain Res 292 (2): 390–4. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(84)90777-7. PMID 6607092. 
• Langston JW, Irwin I, Langston EB, Forno LS (Jul 1984). "1-Methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP+): identification of a metabolite of MPTP, a toxin selective to the substantia nigra". Neurosci Lett 48 (1): 87–92. doi:10.1016/0304-3940(84)90293-3. PMID 6332288. 
• Ballard PA, Tetrud JW, Langston JW (Jul 1985). "Permanent human parkinsonism due to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP): seven cases". Neurology 35 (7): 949–56. PMID 3874373. 
• Calne DB, Langston JW, Martin WR, Stoessl AJ, Ruth TJ, Adam MJ, Pate BD, Schulzer M (Sep 1985). "Positron emission tomography after MPTP: observations relating to the cause of Parkinson's disease". Nature 317 (6034): 246–8. doi:10.1038/317246a0. PMID 3876510. 
• Kiernan RJ, Mueller J, Langston JW, Van Dyke C (Oct 1987). "The Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination: a brief but quantitative approach to cognitive assessment". Ann Intern Med 107 (4): 481–5. PMID 3631786. 
• Ricaurte GA, Forno LS, Wilson MA, DeLanney LE, Irwin I, Molliver ME, Langston JW (Jul 1988). "(+/-)3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine selectively damages central serotonergic neurons in nonhuman primates". JAMA 260 (1): 51–5. doi:10.1001/jama.260.1.51. PMID 2454332. 
• Tetrud JW, Langston JW (Aug 1989). "The effect of deprenyl (selegiline) on the natural history of Parkinson's disease". Science 245 (4917): 519–22. doi:10.1126/science.2502843. PMID 2502843. 
• Langston JW, Widner H, Goetz CG, Brooks D, Fahn S, Freeman T, Watts R (1992). "Core assessment program for intracerebral transplantations (CAPIT)". Mov Disord 7 (1): 2–13. doi:10.1002/mds.870070103. PMID 1557062. 
• Widner H, Tetrud J, Rehncrona S, Snow B, Brundin P, Gustavii B, Björklund A, Lindvall O, Langston JW (Nov 1992). "Bilateral fetal mesencephalic grafting in two patients with parkinsonism induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)". N Engl J Med 327 (22): 1556–63. doi:10.1056/NEJM199211263272203. PMID 1435882. 
• Langston JW, Palfreman J (1995). The case of the frozen addicts. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-0-679-42465-9. 
• Tanner CM, Ottman R, Goldman SM, Ellenberg J, Chan P, Mayeux R, Langston JW (Jan 1999). "Parkinson disease in twins: an etiologic study". JAMA 281 (4): 341–6. doi:10.1001/jama.281.4.341. PMID 9929087. 
• Langston JW, Forno LS, Tetrud J, Reeves AG, Kaplan JA, Karluk D (Oct 1999). "Evidence of active nerve cell degeneration in the substantia nigra of humans years after 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine exposure". Ann Neurol 46 (4): 598–605. doi:10.1002/1531-8249(199910)46:4<598::AID-ANA7>3.0.CO;2-F. PMID 10514096. 
• Farrer M, Chan P, Chen R, Tan L, Lincoln S, Hernandez D, Forno L, Gwinn-Hardy K, Petrucelli L, Hussey J, Singleton A, Tanner C, Hardy J, Langston JW (Sep 2001). "Lewy bodies and parkinsonism in families with parkin mutations". Ann Neurol 50 (3): 293–300. doi:10.1002/ana.1132. PMID 11558785. 
• McCormack AL, Thiruchelvam M, Manning-Bog AB, Thiffault C, Langston JW, Cory-Slechta DA, Di Monte DA (Jul 2002). "Environmental risk factors and Parkinson's disease: selective degeneration of nigral dopaminergic neurons caused by the herbicide paraquat". Neurobiol Dis 10 (2): 119–27. doi:10.1006/nbdi.2002.0507. PMID 12127150. 
• Farrer M, Kachergus J, Forno L, Lincoln S, Wang DS, Hulihan M, Maraganore D, Gwinn-Hardy K, Wszolek Z, Dickson D, Langston JW (Feb 2004). "Comparison of kindreds with parkinsonism and alpha-synuclein genomic multiplications". Ann Neurol 55 (2): 174–9. doi:10.1002/ana.10846. PMID 14755720. 
• Sherer TB, Fiske BK, Svendsen CN, Lang AE, Langston JW (Feb 2006). "Crossroads in GDNF therapy for Parkinson's disease". Mov Disord 21 (2): 136–41. doi:10.1002/mds.20861. PMID 16470786. 
• Langston JW (Apr 2006). "The Parkinson's complex: parkinsonism is just the tip of the iceberg". Ann Neurol 59 (4): 591–6. doi:10.1002/ana.20834. PMID 16566021. 
• Tanner CM, Ross GW, Jewell SA, Hauser RA, Jankovic J, Factor SA, Bressman S, Deligtisch A, Marras C, Lyons KE, Bhudhikanok GS, Roucoux DF, Meng C, Abbott RD, Langston JW (Sep 2009). "Occupation and risk of parkinsonism: a multicenter case-control study". Arch Neurol 66 (9): 1106–13. doi:10.1001/archneurol.2009.195. PMID 19752299. 

External links

• Parkinson's Institute homepage
• William Langston Bio

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