Brundin was educated at
Lund University from 1980 to 1992, where he became a full professor in 2000. In 2012, he was appointed the Jay Van Andel Endowed Chair in Parkinson's Research at
Van Andel Institute,
Grand Rapids, Michigan.[6] Before moving to F. Hoffmann-La Roche in 2022, Brundin held multiple roles at the institute such as the Deputy Chief Scientific Officer, the Director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Science and the Parkinson's Disease Center.[7][8][9]
Early life and education
Already at age 12, Brundin became interested in studying and finding a cure for PD, a passion influenced by his father's, Bertil Brundin, diagnosis in 1974.[10][11][12] While born in Sweden, Brundin spent the majority of his early childhood in the UK, before the family's return to Sweden in 1975.[13][14]
In 1994, Brundin started his own independent research group at
Lund University, Sweden, and he was promoted to full professor of
neuroscience at the Faculty of Medicine in 2000.[17][18][19] His team moved to the Wallenberg Neuroscience Center at Lund University in 1996.[20]
In 2011, Brundin was awarded a
European Research Council grant to study disease mechanisms in PD. In 2012, he moved to the USA and joined the
Van Andel Institute, serving both as the Director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Science and the Head of the Laboratory for Translational Parkinson's Disease Research.[13][21] He later held positions as the Deputy Chief Scientific Officer and the Director of the Parkinson's Disease Center at the same institute until 2022.[9] During this period, he also chaired the scientific committee of the International Linked Clinical Trials initiative.[22] In 2022, he moved to F. Hoffmann-La Roche where he became a Distinguished Scientist where he has the role of Therapeutic Area Leader for Movement Disorders.[4]
Brundin is highly cited, with more than four hundred publications on PD and Huntington's Diseases.[22] He contributed to cell transplantation for PD, took part in initial successful clinical trials, and oversaw subsequent methodological refinements. His work expanded to include the molecular mechanisms of these diseases, co-authoring with Nobel laureate
Aaron Ciechanover, a 2002 review on the potential role of impaired protein degradation in neurodegenerative disorders. He and collaborators identified the prion-like propagation of alpha-synuclein aggregates between neurons and developed corresponding animal models. This work contributed to the recognition of alpha-synuclein as a potential therapeutic target in PD.[23][24][25] In 2021, Brundin was listed on the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers List.[22] Since 2022, at F. Hoffmann-La Roche, he has maintained his research focus on alpha-synuclein, participating in clinical trials studying this protein.
Brundin has also had several other scientific leadership roles. In 2011 he was a founding co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease and he served in that role for over a decade.[4] Starting in 2012, he served for a decade as the inaugural chair of the International Linked Clinical Trials committee, which was instrumental in conducting the largest drug repurposing program in Parkinson's Disease (PD).[26] He has been a member of the World Parkinson Coalition Board of Directors and the
MJ Fox Foundation Executive Scientific Advisory Board.[27][9] He has also chaired a study section at the
National Institutes for Neurological Disease and Stroke (NINDS).[28] He is a scientific co-founder of the biotech companies Acousort AB and RYNE Biotechnology, the latter focused on induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based transplantation therapy for PD.[29]
Awards and recognition
1999: Dr Eric K Fernström Foundation's Prize to Young Swedish Scientists[4]
2001: Catedra Santiago Grisolía Chair Prize, Valencia, Spain[30]
2001: Chair, Gordon Research Conference on CAG Triplet Repeat Disorders[31]
2003: Medal of Honour from the Swedish Parkinson Association[30]
^"Patrik Brundin, MD, PHD". Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
^Åkerman, Mikaela (August 14, 2011).
"Ny ledtråd om Parkinsons sjukdom". Svenska Dagbladet.
Archived from the original on August 11, 2023. Retrieved August 11, 2023 – via www.svd.se.