Dr. Frank LaFerla is a Chancellor’s Professor and Dean of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. He is a past Director of the Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, and also a Fellow of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. Dr. LaFerla received his B.S. in Biology from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. His graduate training was completed at the University of Minnesota where he earned his PhD in the field of virology 1990. Dr. LaFerlas research focuses on understanding the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form of dementia among the elderly. His laboratory has developed several transgenic mouse models of neurodegenerative disorders including the first transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer disease that recapitulates the two major neuropathological lesions, plaques and tangles. This mouse model, referred to as the 3xTg-AD mice, has been widely distributed to researchers throughout the USA and over 20 countries throughout the world. His laboratory has used this model to understand the relationship between plaques and tangles and how each affects the development of the other, and more significantly, this model has proven to be invaluable for the pre-clinical evaluation of novel therapeutic compounds.