Andrew B. Singleton is a British neurogeneticist currently working in the USA. He was born in Guernsey, the Channel Islands in 1972, where he lived until he was 18 years old. His secondary education was conducted at the Guernsey Grammar School. He earned a first class degree in Applied Physiology from Sunderland University and his PhD in neuroscience from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne where he studied the genetics of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Neurochemical Pathology Unit. He moved to the United States in 1999, where he began working at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida studying the genetic basis of Parkinson's disease, ataxia, and dystonia. He moved to the National Institutes of Health in 2001 to head the newly formed Molecular Genetics unit within the Laboratory of Neurogenetics. In 2006 he took over as Chief of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and became an NIH Distinguished Investigator in the intramural program at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in 2017. In 2020 he stepped down as the Chief of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and became the Acting Director of the newly formed Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias at the NIA (CARD https://card.nih.gov/). In 2021 he became the Director of CARD.
Accomplishments
Dr. Singleton is best known for his work aimed at understanding the genetic etiology of Parkinson's disease. His first well-known work described the discovery of a triplication mutation of the alpha-synuclein gene that causes a severe, early-onset form of Parkinson's disease.[1][non-primary source needed] One year later he led the group that was the first to identify mutations in the LRRK2 gene as a cause of familial Parkinson's disease, as well as the more common, sporadic Parkinson's disease.[2][non-primary source needed] Since then, his laboratory has focused more on the complex genetics of Parkinson's disease, describing more than 90 common genetic risk factors for this disease.[3][non-primary source needed][4][5] In addition to working on Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders, his laboratory has active research programs investigating genetic diversity and the consequences of genetic alterations, particularly in the context of the brain and ageing, using systems biology-based approaches.[6][non-primary source needed][7][8] To date he has published more than 700 scientific articles.[9]
Awards and honours
Boehringer Mannheim Research Award in 2005
Annemarie Opprecht Award in 2008
NIH Directors Award in 2008 and 2016
First Recipient of the Jay van Andel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Parkinson's Disease Research, presented at the Van Andel Institute in 2012
Named as an NIH Distinguished Investigator in 2017
Robert A. Pritzker Prize for Leadership in Parkinson's Disease Research
He serves on the editorial boards of the journals Brain, Lancet Neurology, Neurogenetics, Journal of Parkinson's Disease, Journal of Huntington's Disease, npj Parkinson's Disease, and Neurodegenerative Diseases
He is Associate Editor for Genetics at the journals npj Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders
