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Jennifer Johnston, PhD - Scientific Advisory Board
Principal Scientist
Elan Pharmaceuticals
San Francisco, California

Dr. Johnston earned her PhD degree in Cell Biology at Dartmouth College. She completed postdoctoral training on the molecular mechanisms of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in Dr. Alex Varshavsky's lab at Caltech. Subsequently she was at Stanford University, prior to joining Elan Pharmaceuticals. At Elan, she directs research on the Parkinson's Disease project.

Dr. Johnston's research on the cell biology of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway has revealed a cellular mechanism to explain the formation of intracellular inclusions - a pathological characteristic of neurodegenerative disease, and PD in particular. Human genetic data provides strong evidence that this novel pathway is key to understanding an underlying mechanism leading to cellular dysunction in Parkinson's Disease. Current research efforts are focused on an understanding of this pathway in combination with the cell biology of known PD-related genes in an effort to establish appropriate intervention points for therapeutic development. Dr. Johnston's current research at Elan Pharmaceuticals allows a direct translation of research results into possible therapies for patients.