AFTD Medical Advisory Council member and Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research Virginia M.-Y. Lee, PhD, was named a 2022 Clarivate Citation Laureate.

Dr. Lee was recognized for her contributions to the discovery of TDP-43, a protein that, when misfolded, is linked to the development of both FTD and ALS. Dr. Lee was also recognized for her extensive impact on the field of neurodegenerative disease research.

“The Penn neurodegenerative disease research community owes a debt of gratitude to Virginia Lee as she is a trailblazing leader and a true inspiration to us all. She is responsible for many of the fundamental discoveries related to Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, and motor neuron disease. Our understanding of these diseases rests on her amazing work over four decades,” said Eddie Lee, MD, PhD, Co-Director of the Institute of Aging.

The award recognizes researchers who have achieved 2,000 or more citations for one or more of their studies; most research papers receive below 10. Citation laureates are often considered to be candidates for a Nobel Prize, with 43 laureates receiving the honor since 2002.

Dr. Lee, alongside her late husband, John Q. Trojanowski, MD, PhD, was a founding member of AFTD’s Medical Advisory Council.