Rodrigo Morales
Max and Rochelle Distinguished Professor in Neurosciences
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
McGovern Medical School
Department of Neurology
I am the Max and Rochelle Levit Distinguished Professor in Neuroscience at The University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston. I have more than 20 years of experience in the field of protein misfolding diseases, specifically in prion and Alzheimer’s diseases. I have expertise in protein biochemistry and animal pathology. My main research topics involve the prion-like nature of Aβ aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease, the contribution of peripheral tissues and blood in amyloid pathology, the study of environmental components contributing to Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) dissemination, the strain and species barrier phenomena in prion diseases, and the pathological interaction between amyloidogenic proteins.
I have mentored several graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and participate in a number of training activities. I have been a PI on several grants from the Alzheimer’s Association, the United States Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, The United States Department of Agriculture, and multiple other federal, state and private agencies. This was achieved, in large part, to the excellent mentorship I received during my own training. One of the goals of my career is to provide the same service for graduate students.
McGovern Medical School Faculty
Education & Training
PhD, University of Chile, 2009
Postdoctoral research, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 2009-2012