Dr. Hirsch is a neurobiologist involved in research on Parkinson’s disease and related disorders. He obtained his PhD in 1988 from the University of Paris VI (Pierre & Marie Curie) and is currently the associate director of the research center on Brain and Spinal Cord at Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris. His work is aimed at understanding the cause of neuronal degeneration in Parkinson’s disease and is focused on the role of the glial cells, the inflammatory cytokines and apoptosis but also on the consequences of neuronal degeneration in the circuitries downstream to the lesions. He is member of several advisory boards including, INSERM, Helma center Munich, CurePSP in USA, Berzelli Center in Sweden, ARn in France etc... He is the past president of the French society for Neuroscience and Counselor for neuroscience at the French ministry of research (DGRI). He obtained several prizes including Tourette Syndrome Association Award in1986, Young Researcher Award, European Society for Neurochemistry in 1990, Grand Prix de l’Académie de Sciences, Prix de la Fondation pour la Recherche Biomédicale « Prix François Lhermitte » in 1999, Palmes académiques 2010. He is author of more than 200 peer reviewed articles.

(updated 4/6/11)