John C. Morris

John C. Morris is an American neurologist known for his work on the clinical assessment and early detection of Alzheimer's disease. He is the Harvey A. and Dorismae Hacker Friedman Distinguished Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He served as Director of the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center from 2003 to 2023 and has served as co-director since July 2023.

Morris developed the current version and scoring rules of the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), which became a widely used instrument for staging dementia severity in clinical trials and observational studies. He also led the National Institute on Aging task force that created the Uniform Data Set (UDS), the standardized assessment protocol used across federally funded Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers. His 1999 research with Joseph L. Price provided early evidence that Alzheimer neuropathology can be present in cognitively normal older adults, contributing to the recognition of a preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease.

He led the development of the Uniform Data Set (UDS) in 2006, which standardized assessments across U.S. Alzheimer Disease Research Centers.

Awards and honors Morris received the Potamkin Prize for Research in Pick's, Alzheimer's, and Related Dementias from the American Academy of Neurology in 2005 and the MetLife Foundation Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease in 2004. He received the Alzheimer's Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 and was the Medical and Scientific Honoree of the Alzheimer's Association in 2013. From Washington University School of Medicine he received the Carl and Gerty Cori Faculty Achievement Award in 2010, and from Washington University he received the Second Century Award in 2013. He also received the Washington University Academic Women's Network Mentor Award in 2008.

Selected publications Morris, J.C. (1993). "The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR): current version and scoring rules". Neurology. 43 (11): 2412–2414. Price, J.L.; Morris, J.C. (1999). "Tangles and plaques in nondemented aging and 'preclinical' Alzheimer's disease". Annals of Neurology. 45 (3): 358–368. Morris, J.C. et al. (2006). "The Uniform Data Set (UDS): clinical and cognitive variables and descriptive data from Alzheimer Disease Centers". Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders. 20 (4): 210–216. Morris, J.C. et al. (2019). "Assessment of Racial Disparities in Biomarkers for Alzheimer Disease". JAMA Neurology. 76 (3): 264–273.