Researcher

Paul Greengard

Profile

Paul Greengard was an American neuroscientist at The Rockefeller University who shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Eric Kandel and Arvid Carlsson for discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system. Greengard's central contribution was elucidating how dopamine and other neurotransmitters exert their effects on neurons through second-messenger cascades involving cyclic AMP and protein phosphorylation. He identified the protein DARPP-32 (dopamine and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein, 32 kDa) as a key integrator of dopaminergic and other signaling pathways in the striatum, making it a key molecular target in neuropharmacology. His work provided the molecular basis for understanding how antipsychotics, antidepressants, and drugs of abuse act on the brain, and opened the door to more targeted drug development for psychiatric disorders. Greengard's legacy also includes the Rockefeller University Women & Science initiative and philanthropy in the arts. The signaling pathways he characterized are central to efforts to develop new treatments for schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, depression, and addiction in the pharmaceutical industry.

Industry Ties