Denise A. Figlewicz, PhD - Vice President Research
Denise Figlewicz, PhD, was promoted to Vice President Research at the ALS Society of Canada on May 11, 2009.
"In the two and a half years of Denise's tenure, the profile of our organization and its research mandate have been elevated significantly and our stature as a research funding agency firmly established," says David Cameron, president and CEO of ALS Canada.
At the ALS Society of Canada, Dr. Figlewicz leads the development and implementation of a national ALS research strategy focusing on understanding the cause and cure for ALS. She represents the Society among scientific and research communities world-wide and acts as an advisor to scientists, government officials and industry leaders seeking advice in the ALS research field.
Dr. Figlewicz's research career has focused on mammalian nervous system development and pathology, specifically molecular genetic and cell approaches to investigate neuromuscular diseases, such as ALS. Her research has taken advantage of the powerful new methodologies of molecular genetics to better understand the pathogenesis of human neuromuscular disorders, both inherited and sporadic.
In 2004, Dr. Figlewicz began a new initiative to identify ALS susceptibility genes, taking advantage of the genetic differences between different inbred mouse strains to study alterations of motor neuron diseases phenotype in mutant SOD1 over-expressing mice.
Dr. Figlewicz and Dr. Guy Rouleau were part of the international consortium that discovered the first gene responsible for the familial form of ALS in 1993. This breakthrough paves the way toward the development of treatments for the hereditary form of the disease.
Dr. Figlewicz is associate editor of the journal, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. She has authored more than 75 articles in peer-reviewed publications such as Journal of Neurochemistry, Journal of Neuroscience, Neurology, Muscle & Nerve, New England Journal of Medicine, Genomics, Nucleic Acids Research, Neuromuscular Disorders, Nature, Annals of Neurology and Nature Genetics.
Her scientific activities include being a reviewer for Muscular Dystrophy (U.S.), Muscular Dystrophy Canada, Medical Research Council of Canada, Motor Neurone Disease Association, U.K., French Muscular Dystrophy Association, National Institutes of Health (U.S.), The ALS Association, the Wellcome Trust, U.K., as well as a reviewer for numerous scientific journals.
Prior to joining ALS Canada, Dr. Figlewicz was Associate Professor and Research Scientist, Neurology Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Dr. Figlewicz received her PhD in Biochemistry and completed her post-doctoral work at the National Institutes of Health and National Naval Medical Research Institute, both in Bethesda, Maryland. She has been involved in the ALS research field since the 1980s.