| Andrew Singleton | |
|---|---|
| Photo placeholder | |
| Affiliations | NIH University College London |
| Country | USA/UK |
| H-index | 200+ |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8656-8853 |
| Research Focus | Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, FTD |
| Mechanisms | Alpha-synuclein, Genetics, Protein aggregation |
Andrew Singleton is a renowned neuroscientist and geneticist whose research has fundamentally shaped our understanding of the genetics and molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Parkinson's disease. His work at the intersection of genetic discovery and mechanistic biology has been instrumental in identifying several key genes involved in neurodegeneration.
Singleton's group was among the first to demonstrate that multiplication of the SNCA gene causes familial Parkinson's disease. This groundbreaking finding established that increased expression of alpha-synuclein is sufficient to cause parkinsonism, providing direct evidence for the pathological role of this protein in PD pathogenesis.
This discovery catalyzed the field's focus on alpha-synuclein aggregation and led to:
Singleton's research contributed significantly to the identification and characterization of LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2) mutations as a major cause of familial Parkinson's disease. LRRK2 is now recognized as the most common genetic cause of PD, with over 100 pathogenic mutations identified.
Beyond SNCA and LRRK2, Singleton has contributed to identifying:
Singleton's research integrates:
Primary institutional affiliations: