Dr. Alberto Ascherio is a distinguished physician-scientist and leading authority in the epidemiology of neurodegenerative disorders. He currently serves as Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School with additional affiliation at Brigham and Women's Hospital. After earning his Doctorate in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Milan in 1978, he practiced medicine and public health in Latin America and Africa before pursuing advanced training at Harvard. He completed his Master of Public Health in 1989 and Doctorate in Public Health in 1992, subsequently joining the Harvard faculty where he has established himself as a preeminent investigator in neurological disease epidemiology. His early research focused on diet and cardiovascular disease before shifting to his current specialization in neurodegenerative conditions over the past twenty-five years.
Dr. Ascherio's groundbreaking research has fundamentally reshaped understanding of the causes of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis through extensive longitudinal studies across diverse populations. His landmark twenty-year investigation of over ten million young adults provided compelling evidence that Epstein-Barr virus infection increases the likelihood of developing multiple sclerosis by more than thirty-two fold, a discovery now widely accepted as establishing EBV as the leading cause of MS. This paradigm-shifting work has catalyzed renewed research and investment in multiple sclerosis while driving development of EBV-targeted vaccines and antibody therapies currently in clinical trials. Throughout his career, he has identified numerous biomarkers and modifiable risk factors including cigarette smoking, vitamin D insufficiency, and childhood obesity as risk factors for MS, pesticide exposure for Parkinson's disease, and low body mass index for ALS, with several findings providing the rationale for clinical intervention trials.
Dr. Ascherio's influence extends through his leadership of major longitudinal studies including the Nurses' Health Studies, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, the U.S. military cohorts, and international collaborations with registries in Denmark and Finland. His extensive publication record of over four hundred original research papers has established critical frameworks for understanding environmental and genetic interactions in neurological disorders while informing clinical prevention strategies worldwide. Recognized with the prestigious 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for his work on multiple sclerosis and an honorary Doctor of Medicine from the University of Southern Denmark, his research continues to drive significant investment in neurodegenerative disease prevention. Currently directing multiple NIH-funded projects, he has identified finding meaningful interventions for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as his professional dream, pursuing promising preliminary results that could transform outcomes for this devastating condition with rapid progression and limited treatment options.
