Rudolph Emile Tanzi, Unit director of the Genetics and Aging Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and professor of neurology (neuroscience) at Harvard Medical School, specializes in the genetic causes of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a debilitating and fatal neurological disorder that causes its victims to suffer from dementia. Working with different research teams, Tanzi has identified several genes implicated in AD and in other neurodegenerative disorders. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Potamkin Prize and the Metropolitan Life Foundation Award.

Upon completing his undergraduate work in microbiology and history at the University of Rochester in 1980, Tanzi accepted a position in a genetics research lab at MGH and was part of the team led by James Gusella that in 1983 located the gene that causes Huntington's disease, a fatal neurological disorder. In Gusella's lab, Tanzi also studied chromosome 21 in an attempt to locate the gene(s) involved...