Fred Gage

Infobox scientist
name = Dr. Fred Gage

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field = Brain Research
work_institutions = Salk Institute for Biological Studies
alma_mater = University of Florida
John Hopkins University
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known_for = Alzheimer research
prizes = Christopher Reeve Research Medal
Max Planck Research Prize
National Academy of Sciences

Fred "Rusty" Gage is a professor in the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute, and has concentrated on the adult central nervous system and the unexpected plasticity and adaptability that remains throughout the life of all mammals. His work may lead to methods of replacing brain tissue lost to stroke or Alzheimer’s disease and repairing spinal cords damaged by trauma.

In 1998, Fred H. Gage (Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California) and Peter Eriksson (Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden) discovered and announced that the human brain produces new nerve cells in adulthood. Until then, it had been assumed that humans are born with all the brain cells they will ever have.

Gage’s lab showed that, contrary to years of dogma, human beings are capable of growing new nerve cells throughout life. Small populations of immature nerve cells are found in the adult mammalian brain, and Gage is working to understand how these cells can be induced to become mature nerve cells. His team is investigating how such cells can be transplanted back to the brain and spinal cord. They have showed that physical exercise can enhance the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus, a brain structure that is important for the formation of new memories. Furthermore, his team is examining the underlying molecular mechanisms that are critical to the birth of new brain cells, work that may lead to new therapeutics for neurodegenerative conditions.

Interestingly, Dr. Gage has been said to be related to Phineas Gage, through whose brain an iron bar 1 1/4-inches in diameter was accidentally driven in 1848, transforming him into perhaps the most famous of all brain-injury survivors.

Fred Gage received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. He serves as a member of the Science Advisory Board of the Genetics Policy Institute.

Awards and honors

*Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievements in Health and Education, 1993
*Christopher Reeve Research Medal, 1997
*Max Planck Research Prize, 1999
*President, Society for Neuroscience, 2001
*National Academy of Sciences 2003

References

* [http://www.salk.edu/faculty/faculty/details.php?id=23 Salk Institute page]