Biography

Dr. Atwood received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Western Australia in Perth, Australia prior to post-doctoral fellowships at the National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, and Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown. He has held faculty positions at Harvard Medical School and Case Western Reserve University prior to his current appointment where he directs the research program of the Laboratory for Endocrinology, Aging and Disease in the Department of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin. He also is a Health Science Specialist with the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Administration Hospital, Madison. Dr. Atwood has broad research interests related to the endocrinology of embryogenesis, adulthood and senescence as elaborated upon in ‘The Reproductive-Cell Cycle Theory of Aging’. His laboratory has utilized human embryonic stem cells in vitro as a model system for delineating the hormonal and molecular basis of early human embryogenesis and neurogenesis, as well as for understanding neurodegeneration associated with age-related neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. He is a top cited author, holds several patents and has published over 200 scientific articles. Dr. Atwood serves as an Associate Editor or an editorial board member for more than 40 scientific journals including the Journal of Biological Chemistry, as well as on multiple executive and scientific advisory councils. In 2006 he received the Zenith Fellows Award from the Alzheimer’s Association in recognition of his research.