Diseases of the Nervous System

Dr. Sontheimer is a researcher and educator with a life-long interest in Neuroscience. A native of Germany, he obtained a Masters degree in evolutionary comparative Neuroscience, where he worked on the development of occulomotor reflexes. In 1989, he obtained a doctorate in Biophysics and Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience form the University of Heidelberg studying biophysical changes that accompany the development of oligodendrocytes, the principle myelinating cells of the nervous system. He moved to the United States, where he later became a citizen, for post-doctoral studies at Yale University. His independent research career began at Yale in 1991 and continued at the University of Alabama Birmingham in 1994 and been focused on the role of glial support cells in health and disease. His laboratory has made major discoveries that led to two clinical trials using novel compounds to treat malignant gliomas. His research led to over 160 peer-reviewed publications. For the clinical development of his discoveries, Dr. Sontheimer started a biotechnologies company, Transmolecular Inc., which conducted both phase I and II clinical trials with the anti-cancer agent chlorotoxin. This technology was recently acquired by Morphotec Pharmaceuticals who will be conducting the phase III clinical trials. As educator, Dr. Sontheimer has been active in teaching Medical Neuroscience, graduate Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, and, for the past 10 years, he has offered both graduate and undergraduate courses on Diseases of the Nervous System. In 2005, Dr. Sontheimer became director of the Civitan International Research Center, a philanthropically supported center devoted to the study and treatment of children with developmental disabilities, ranging from Down's syndrome to Autism. In this capacity, Dr. Sontheimer is frequently tasked explaining complex scientific processes to a lay audience. Recognizing the need to further educate the public about neurological disorders using language that is accessible to an educated public motivated Dr. Sontheimer to write a text book on Diseases of the Nervous system. To assure that the material is comprehensive yet readily understandable, he wrote large parts of this text while on sabbatical leave at Rhodes College in Memphis, where he taught undergraduates while testing his book on this group of talented third and fourth year Neuroscience students. Dr. Sontheimer continues to manage a very active research laboratory where he has trained over 50 students and fellows. Dr. Sontheimer is a sought-after speaker and is regularly participating in national and international conferences.