David Patterson, Ph.D.

What I do

Dr. Patterson received his B.S. from MIT and his Ph.D. from Brandeis University. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He is currently a Research Professor at the Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging and the Department of Biological Sciences and a Senior Scientist of the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute at DU. His research focuses on metabolic changes associated with aging and with Down syndrome, the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability in the human population and a premature aging syndrome, and other human health conditions. Dr. Patterson also conducts research on the synthesis of purines, critical molecules in information storage and transfer, energy metabolism, and cellular and intercellular communication. The purine system is also altered in several human inborn errors of metabolism and in aging. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles and contributed to seminal work on Alzheimer's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS), and cancer. His work has been supported by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development as well as by several foundations. He serves on the National Institute on Aging Neuroscience of Aging Review Committee, the Medical Scientific Committee of the Colorado Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, the National Down Syndrome Society Science and Clinical Advisory Board, and the Down Syndrome International Scientific Advisory Research Group.