Dr. Michael Hayden

MICHAEL R. HAYDEN is Professor of Medical Genetics and Internal Medicine, University of British Columbia. Two of his research studies are models of approaches to major human disease: In his studies of Huntington disease, a classic dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorder, he was the first to identify brain lesions by positron emission tomography, to find a reliable genetic marker for predictive testing, and to use size of the trinucleotide expansion (the mutation) for accurate diagnosis. He was also the first to identify lipoprotein lipase (LPL) mutations as causes of LPL deficiency, to analyze their distribution in human populations, and to demonstrate their role in atherogenesis.