McLaughlin Research Director Leaving for UCSF
Original Article: McLaughlin Research director leaving for California lab, George Carlson, longtime director and senior researcher at McLaughlin Research Institute, is resigning both posts at the end of the year.Carlson, who had been leading the small but respected Great Falls biomedical research center since 1988, announced he will join the faculty at the University of California, San Francisco's Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases. Carlson's longtime collaborator, Nobel Prize laureate Stanley Prusiner is director of the institute."Dr. Carlson brings an unprecedented set of skills in mouse genetics and mouse models of neurodegenerative diseases — models that play an extraordinarily important role in the discovery of new drugs for treating these diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases," Prusiner said in a news release. "His expertise will add a great deal to our program. We are all thrilled that he has decided to bring his many talents to the study of these devastating diseases, for which there are currently no effective treatments.""It's an exciting place," Dr. Carlson said of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases. "The research is at a point where it's entirely likely a cure is in sight, and they have the intellectual and physical resources to find it." UCSF is one of the top biomedical research universities in the world.In a Tribune interview, Carlson said he will miss Great Falls and his work at McLaughlin."I have friends here and have enjoyed the area's natural beauty and fly fishing," he said, stressing he will help McLaughlin with its transition new leadership, serve on its Scientific Advisory Committee and support efforts to pass and implement Montana Initiative 181.If approved by Montana voters, the initiative authorizes the state to buy $20 million in bonds for 10 years to provide grants to develop therapies and cures for brain diseases and injuries and mental illness.George Carlson, director of McLaughlin Research InstituteBuy Photo"I'm not going away," he said, leaving the door open for future collaborations between himself and MRI scientists.Click here to read the full article