Jeffrey H. Kordower, Ph.D. Director, Section of Neurobiology -    Department of Neurological Sciences Director of the Research Center for Brain Repair, Jean Schweppe Armour Professor of Neurological Sciences
		Education B.A. (1980) – City University of New York M.A. (1982) – City University of New York Ph. D. (1984) – City University of New York Contact Information

Address: Rush Presbyterian Medical Center 2242 West Harrison Street Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60612 Business Phone: (312) 563-3570 Business FAX: (312) 563-3571 E-mail Address: jkordowe@rush.edu Research Interests Dr. Kordower is a leading researcher in the fields of gene therapy, neural transplantation, nonhuman primate models of neurodegenerative disease and experimental therapeutic strategies for Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease. In 1995, he made the pioneering demonstration the fetal transplants can survive in patients with Parkinson’s disease; a paper that was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. In 2000, he published the lead article in Science demonstrating for the first time that gene delivery of a trophic factor called GDNF can prevent degeneration and restore function in nonhuman primate models of Parkinson’s disease. This study formed the basis for his new NPF sponsored research program that is directed towards bringing this exciting therapeutic strategy into clinical trials. Currently his main interests involve gene therapy and cell replacement strategies using stem cells in rodent and nonhuman primate models of Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease. Current Research Programs: 1) Lentiviral gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease: Studies in nonhuman primates 2) Stem Cell transplantation for Parkinson’s disease: Studies in nonhuman primates 3) Lentiviral gene therapy for Huntington’s disease: Studies in rodents 4) Stem Cell transplantation for Huntington’s disease: studies in rodents 5) Role of estrogen upon vulnerable neural circuits in young and aged monkeys 6) Vulnerable neural circuits in individuals with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease 7) Primate neuroanatomy 8) Distribution of trophic factors and their receptors in primates 9) Nonhuman primate models of stroke Techniques Employed: 1) Confocal microscopy 2) Nonhuman primate neurosurgery 3) Stereology 4) MRI and PET scanning 5) Rodent and nonhuman primate behavior 6) Immunocytochemistry 7) In situ hybridization Representative Publications Kordower, J.H., Emborg, M., Bloch, J., Ma, S.Y., Chu, Y., Leventhal, L., McBride, J., Chen, E.-Y., Palfi, S., Roitberg, B.Z, Brown, D., Holden, J., Pyzalski, R., Taylor, M., Carvey, P., Ling, Z., Trono, D. P., Hantraye, P., Déglon, N., and Aebischer, P. Neurodegeneration prevented by lentiviral vector delivery of GDNF in primate models of Parkinson's disease. Science, 290: 767-773, 2000. Kordower, J.H.., Chu, Y.-P., Stebbins, G.T.. Cochran, E.J., DeKosky, S.M., Bennett, D., and Mufson, E.J. Loss and atrophy of layer II entorhinal cortex neurons in elderly people with mild cognitive impairment. Annals of Neurology, 49: 202-213, 2001. Freeman, T.B., Cicchetti, F., Hauser, R.A., Deacon, T.W., Randall, T.S., Li, X-J., Hersch, S.M., Nauert, M.G., Sanberg, P.R., Kordower, J.H., Saporta, S., and Isacson, O. Survival of striatal transplants in a patient with Huntington's disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97: 13877-13882, 2000. Palfi, S., Leventhal, L., Chu, Y., Ma, Y., Emborg, M., Bakay, R.A.E., Déglon, Hantraye, P., Aebischer, P., Kordower, J.H. Lentivirally delivered GDNF increases the number of striatal dopaminergic neurons in primate models of nigrostriatal degeneration, Journal of Neuroscience, 22:4942-4954, 2002. McBride, J.L., During, M., Wuu, J., Chen, E.-Y., Leurgans, S., and Kordower, J.H. Structural and functional neuroprotection in a rat model of Huntington's disease by viral gene transfer of GDNF. Experimental Neurology, in press.