Kenneth Marek, M.D., Distinguished Scientist

Dr. Marek co-founded IND in 2001 and serves as IND’s  Distinguished Scientist and Treasurer.  Dr. Marek served as President of  IND from its founding through 2018.  Prior to founding IND, Dr. Marek was the Director of the Movement Disorders Center at the Yale University  School of Medicine. He graduated from Princeton University (AB,  biochemistry) and received his medical degree from Yale University. Dr.  Marek was trained in internal medicine and neurology at the Johns  Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. He received further training as a post-doctoral fellow in neurochemistry at the Institute of  Neurology, Queens Square, London. Prior to his move to Yale University he was a faculty member of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine,  Department of Neurology. Dr. Marek has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including those from the National Institutes of  Health (NIH), Department of Defense, American Heart Association,  Parkinson Disease Foundation, and National Parkinson’s Foundation. He has been a recipient of the National Parkinson’s Foundation Richard E.  Heikala Research Scholar Award, and the 2017 Robert A Pritzker Prize from the Michael J. Fox Foundation. He currently serves on the scientific advisory board of the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Dr. Marek has made significant research contributions in the identification of biomarkers for early detection, assessment of disease progression and development of new treatments for Parkinson disease and related neurodegenerative disorders, including Huntington disease, Alzheimer disease and dystonia. His specific interest has been in in vivo neuroreceptor imaging in Parkinson disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. He has authored numerous neurology and neuroscience publications on these topics. He has served as a consultant for numerous pharmaceutical companies and for the Veterans Administration. Dr. Marek is a principal investigator or coordinating principal investigator of several international studies investigating the use of imaging to assess the onset, progression and effect of treatment in Parkinson disease,  including the Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative study (“PPMI”), working with 33 clinical sites in 11 counties.