Lasmézas Laboratory at the Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute

Corinne Lasmézas is an expert in neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis and therapeutics. She received her Ph.D. in Neurosciences from Sorbonne University, Paris, France, her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and her Diploma in Aeronautics and Space Medicine from the University of Toulouse, France. She led research labs at the Atomic Energy Commission in France and at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida, before joining the FAU Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute as the inaugural Director of the David and Lynn Nicholson Center for Neurodegenerative Disease and Professor in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. Lasmézas’ early work demonstrated that the new disease variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD) was due to human infection by a toxic protein called a prion acquired from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (“mad cow disease”) and supported the worldwide implementation of life-saving public health protection measures. Her work contributed to understanding of prion biology, in particular how prions utilize the immune system to their advantage, travel in the body and are toxic to brain cells. Her current research spans several neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's and other dementias, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Research in the Lasmézas lab focuses on gaining in-depth understanding of cellular pathways leading to neurodegeneration, identification of new targets for intervention and development of novel therapeutic strategies.