Dennis Selkoe was, according to the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI), one of the scientists who produced the hottest and most highly cited papers in neuroscience in the past decade.

Selkoe's laboratory is investigating the biochemistry and molecular cell biology of neuronal degeneration during aging of the mammalian brain. He was among the first to discover that abnormal amyloid protein deposits in the human brain causes certain types of Alzheimer's diseases. The invention of assays and cell-culture systems to analyze the synthesis and metabolism of amyloid protein has been well received by researchers in the neuroscience field. These assays and methods were very useful as diagnostic tools for testing predisposition to Alzheimer's disease and stimulated research to find drug targets for neurodegenerative diseases.

Together with other research groups, Selkoe and colleagues demonstrated the role that amyloid peptide beta accumulation played in the development of Alzheimer's disease. Selkoe and...