Dr. Wisniewski obtained his MD at Kings College School of Medicine in the UK. He did his Neurology and Neuropathology Residencies at NYU and Columbia-Presbyterian, respectively. He is a board certified Neurologist and Neuropathologist, who runs an active research laboratory focusing on neurodegenerative disorders, in particular the mechanisms which drive amyloid deposition in Alzheimer''s and prion related diseases. This work has lead to over 150 peer-reviewed publications. An important aim of his work has been to direct this greater understanding toward therapeutic interventions. Key discoveries have included discovering the role of apolipoprotein E in driving amyloid deposition in late-onset AD. Dr. Wisniewski coined the term "pathological chaperone" to denote the role of apoE, even prior to the discovery of the linkage of apoE4 to late-onset AD. More recently, Dr. Wisniewski has been developing strategies for the removal of amyloid both in AD using non-toxic, highly immunogenic proteins as "vaccines". This approach has been shown to be efficacious in both animal models of AD and prion disease. This approach is likely to be superior to the methodologies used by Schenk and the Elan group in their recent ill fated clinical trial. Dr. Wisniewski and his group predicted that Aß toxicity will be a problem in this trial and his vaccine approach is aimed at avoiding these potential safety concerns. He has also been working at using this "vaccination" approach for a broader list of neurodegenerative diseases, which are called "conformational disease". His recent work has shown that this approach delays the onset of disease in animal models of prion infection.