Roberto Malinow, M.D., Ph.D.

Shiley Endowed Chair in Alzheimer’s Disease Research; Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology and Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego


Dr. Malinow’s research is directed toward understanding how the brain forms and stores memories. His laboratory examines how neuronal activity controls the strength of communication between neurons, at sites called synapses. Synapses are key sites affected by diseases of cognition. Synaptic plasticity, or the ability of the connection between neurons to vary, is thought to underlie the formation and storage of memories. It is thought that a detailed understanding of synaptic plasticity will identify critical steps that may be the targets of diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Such an understanding eventually may lead to treatments that prevent the disease.

Funded Research

These projects were made possible from Cure Alzheimer's Fund support.

Selected Publications

These published papers resulted from Cure Alzheimer’s Fund support.

Miyazaki T, Takase K, Nakajima W, Tada H, Ohya D, Sano A, Goto T, Hirase H, Malinow R, Takahashi T Disrupted cortical function underlies behavior dysfunction due to social isolation, J Clin Invest., 122(7), Jul 2, 2012, 2690-701, Read More

Wu-Zhang AX, Schramm CL, Nabavi S, Malinow R, Newton AC Cellular pharmacology of protein kinase Mζ (PKMζ) contrasts with its in vitro profile: implications for PKMζ as a mediator of memory, J Biol Chem., 287(16), Apr 13, 2012, 12879-85, Read More

Kessels HW, Nguyen LN, Nabavi S, Malinow R The prion protein as a receptor for beta-amyloid, Nature, 466(7308), Aug 12, 2010, E3-E5, Read More

Wei W, Nguyen L, Kessels HW, Hagiwara H, Sisodia S, Malinow R Amyloid beta from axons and dendrites reduces local spine number and plasticity, Nature Neuroscience, 13(2), Feb 2010, 190-196, Read More