Ron Mandel, Ph.D.
Head of Gene Therapy Programs

Dr. Mandel has been interested in the neurochemistry and behavioral pharmacology of the brain for over 30 years.

After he earned his BS in psychology at Duke University, Dr. Mandel received his Ph.D. from USC for his studies on striatal dopamine receptors. Subsequent post-doctoral work with Rusty Gage and Leon Thal expanded his expertise to acetylcholine and trophic factor neurochemistry using specific animal models of Alzheimer’s disease. As a consequence of these studies, he moved to Sweden to work with Dr. Anders Bjorkland to learn techniques of neural transplantation for Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases.

After a brief stint as Assistant Professor at University of Illinois, Dr. Mandel moved to Somatix (subsequently Cell Genesys) to develop gene therapy technologies for Parkinson’s disease. He has continued his Parkinson’s research for the last 25 years, first in Sweden with the Bjorkland group, and then as Assistant, followed by promotion to Full Professor, at the University of Florida in the Gene Therapy center. More recently he has expanded into leukodystrophies, inherited dystonias, lysosomal and glycogen storage disorders, multiple system atrophy, and autism related repetitive behaviors.