Company Profile
Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Company Overview
Directed by Nobel Laureate Dr. Stanley Prusiner, the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases (IND) at the University of California, San Francisco, is dedicated to investigating neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple system atrophy (MSA), chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and PrP prion diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob (CJD) disease. A diverse group of scientists collaborate across fields to understand the mechanisms of these complex and devastating brain diseases, and a major effort is dedicated to developing both diagnostics and therapeutics for these disorders.
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It is the only campus in the 10-campus UC system dedicated exclusively to the health sciences.
Company History
In the early 1980s, Dr. Stanley Prusiner discovered that infectious proteins, which he called prions, are the cause of the degenerative brain disease called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Prions have since been implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and most recently, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr. Prusiner was recognized for his discovery of prions with a Nobel Prize in 1997. In 1999, Dr. Prusiner founded the IND, based at UCSF, with a commitment to creating therapeutics that will halt diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and dementia resulting from traumatic brain injuries.
Located in the new, state-of-the-art Sandler Neurosciences Center at the University of California San Francisco, the IND is at the forefront of discovering diagnostics and therapeutics that will provide relief to those suffering from neurodegenerative diseases that, in the words of British novelist and Alzheimer’s patient Terry Pratchett, can “strip away your living self a bit at a time.”
Notable Accomplishments / Recognition
IND Director Dr. Stanley Prusiner’s contributions to scientific research have been internationally recognized with numerous prizes including the Richard Lounsbery Award, the Albert Lasker Award and the Nobel Prize.
Benefits
UC provides exceptional benefits in addition to the special intellectual and cultural advantages of being a member of the UC Community. The University offers outstanding health and welfare benefits and programs for secure retirement that are considered to be among the finest in higher education. The benefits received depend on the number of hours worked, type of appointment and classification.
Please see the UCSF benefits page for more detailed information.
https://hr.ucsf.edu/hr.php?org=c&AT=cm&S=Benefits