Robert Moir, 58, Dies; His Research Changed Views on Alzheimer’s

Dr. Moir’s unconventional ideas made it difficult for him to get federal grants. Nearly every time he submitted a grant proposal to the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Tanzi said in a telephone interview, two out of three reviewers would be enthusiastic, while a third would simply not believe it. The proposal would not be funded.

But Dr. Moir took those rejections in stride.

“He’d make a joke about it,” Dr. Tanzi said. “He never got angry. I never saw Rob angry in my life. He’d say, ‘What do we have to do next?’ He was always upbeat, always optimistic.”

Dr. Moir was supported by the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, and he eventually secured some N.I.H. grants.

Dr. Moir first came to the United States in 1994, when Dr. Tanzi was looking for an Alzheimer’s biochemist to work in his lab.

Working with Dr. Tanzi’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow and later as a faculty member with his own lab, Dr. Moir made a string of major discoveries about Alzheimer’s disease.

For example, Dr. Moir and Dr. Tanzi found that people naturally make antibodies to specific forms of amyloid. These antibodies protect the brain from Alzheimer’s but do not wipe out amyloid completely. The more antibodies a person makes, the greater the protection against Alzheimer’s.

That finding, Dr. Tanzi said, inspired the development of an experimental drug, made by Biogen, that the company says is helping to treat some people with Alzheimer’s disease. Biogen plans to file for approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/science/robert-moir-dead.html?emc=rss&partner=rss