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Dr. Robert Brown is the Leo P. and Theresa M. LaChance Chair in Medical Research, Professor of Neurology, and Director of the Program in Neurotherapeutics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

An internationally known researcher and physician, Dr. Brown has led the quest to cure neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, for more than two decades. Renowned for groundbreaking research focused on inherited and genetic underpinnings of neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases, Dr. Brown has recorded significant discoveries in identifying gene defects that elucidate how ALS causes neurons to die.

In 1993, a team of researchers led by Dr. Brown discovered the first gene linked to the inherited form of ALS, called SOD1. Dr. Brown has also identified disease genes in other inherited neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases such as hyperkalemic periodic paralysis, Miyoshi muscular dystrophy and hereditary sensory neuropathy. Dr. Brown previously served as a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Associate Neurologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital.