CLAUDIO SOTO, PH.D.
Professor
Department of Neurology
UTHealth
Dr. Claudio Soto is the Huffington Distinguished University Chair, Professor of Neurology and Director of George and Cynthia Mitchell Center for Alzheimer’s disease and related Brain Disorders at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. He is also the Founder, Vice-President and Chief Scientific Officer of Amprion Inc.
He received his PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Chile in 1993 and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Catholic University of Chile and at the New York University School of Medicine, where he became an assistant professor of research in 1995. Between 1999 and 2003, Dr Soto was Senior Scientist, Chairman of the Department of Molecular Neurobiology and Senior Executive Scientific Advisor for Neurobiology at Serono International in Switzerland. Between 2003 and 2008, he served as Director of the George and Cynthia Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Professor on the Departments of Neurology, Neuroscience & Cell Biology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
For the past 20 years, his group has engaged in research into understanding the molecular basis of neurodegenerative diseases associated to the misfolding and brain accumulation of proteins, particularly focusing in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson's and prion-related disorders. His work has led not only to a better understanding of these diseases, but also to the development of novel strategies for diagnosis and therapeutic intervention. Dr Soto's innovative method for biochemical diagnosis is currently being used in many countries as a non-invasive and high sensitive test for various brain diseases. Also, the novel therapies coming from his work are currently being tested in patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases.
Dr Soto has published more than 170 peer review scientific publications and contributed to more than 20 books, including one written entirely by Dr. Soto. Many of his studies have been published in the most prestigious scientific journals (including Cell, Nature, Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, Nature medicine, PNAS, Neuron, The Lancet, etc). Dr Soto's publications have been cited more than 14,000 times (H index 65). Many articles and news have been written by scientific and lay journalists to highlight his work. Dr Soto has received numerous awards and has been invited speaker in more than 200 International scientific meetings worldwide. He has been awarded many grants from the Federal government, and private foundations for a total funding of over 40 million dollars.