News

SfRBM's Senior Awards Committee has announced that the recipient of the 2023 Discovery Award is Dr. Stuart Lipton of the Scripps Research Institute.  He is being recognized for his outstanding contributions to the process of protein S-nitrosylation as a redox mechanism for the control and regulation of protein function in health and disease.

With colleagues, he discovered the ubiquitous posttranslational modification known as S-nitrosylation that, like phosphorylation, regulates protein function in health and disease. Lipton is also known for developing, characterizing, and patenting the FDA- and EMA-approved Alzheimer’s drug memantine and related therapeutics (Namenda®, NamendaXR®, Namzaric®, and GoCovri®). Additionally, his group first cloned and identified the transcription factor MEF2C whose insufficiency, either due to genetic deletion or posttranslation S-nitrosylation, results in a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder, and also contributes to Alzheimer and Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis. 

Lipton’s group also discovered the GluN3 family of NMDA-type glutamate receptor subunits that modulate receptor function. Currently, Lipton is developing new compounds to counteract excessive electrical activity and aberrant protein S-nitrosylation contributing to synaptic damage in these neurological disorders, One such compound, NitroSynapsin (aka EM-036), is slated to enter human clinical trials for autism in the near future. 

Dr. Lipton will give a featured lecture on "Dark Matter Pathways of Protein Transnitrosylation Injure Synapses in Alzheimer’s Disease" during SfRBM-SFRRI 2023. Click here to learn more about Dr. Lipton and his work.