Joseph G. Gleeson

Joseph Gleeson is an American physician-scientist and professor of neurosciences and genetics at University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He is known for his research on the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders, including structural birth defects, epileptic encephalopathies, and spina bifida.

Early life and education Gleeson earned his M.D. from Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago in 1991, and completed his residency in pediatrics and neurology and fellowship in neurogenetics at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. There, in the laboratory of Christopher A. Walsh, he identified the doublecortin gene as the cause for X-linked lissencephaly and double cortex syndrome, a form of pachygyria, later showing that the gene encodes a Microtubule-associated protein. with genomic technologies such as whole-genome sequencing and mosaic variant barcode analysis.

Research Gleeson's research addresses: Mosaic genetic mutations and their role in structural birth defects Multi-omics approaches in patient-derived neurons for therapeutic discovery

Selected publications

Awards and honors Gleeson has been recognized for his work through several awards and honors, which include: John Merck Program in the Developmental Disabilities in Childhood Klingenstein Award in the Neurosciences Ray Thomas Edwards Foundation Award HHMI Investigator Searle Scholar Member of the National Academy of Medicine Sachs Scientific Achievement Award