Stuart Lipton MD, PhD

General information

Stuart Lipton, MD, PhD, is a board-certified neurologist who specializes in neurodegenerative diseases. A neuroscientist and world-renowned expert in dementia, Dr. Lipton is best known for developing the FDA-approved memantine (Namenda®, NamendaXR®, Namzaric®), the first drug in a novel class of medications used to treat moderate-to-severe Alzheimer’s disease.

In addition to his clinical practice in general neurology, Dr. Lipton is a prolific researcher whose studies have led to the development of the first neuroprotective drugs to combat various neurodegenerative diseases, vascular diseases of the brain, and neurodevelopment disorders such as autism. He is an adjunct professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine’s Department of Neurosciences and professor and co-director of the Neuroscience Translational Center at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla. Dr. Lipton also holds the Hannah and Eugene Step Chair in neurodegenerative disease.

As a translational research scientist, Dr. Lipton applies findings in basic research to produce new drugs and treatment options for people to improve their health and well-being. His areas of expertise include pharmacology and stem cell biology.

Dr. Lipton is extensively published. He has co-authored over 500 articles, books and papers. His work, which has appeared in journals such as Science, Nature, Cell, The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and The Lancet, among others, has been cited over 64,000 times.

Before relocating to San Diego, Dr. Lipton served on the faculty at Harvard Medical School for 25 years.

Dr. Lipton completed his neurology residency at Harvard University where he also performed his PhD thesis research in biochemistry and biophysics. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard University, Dr. Lipton studied under Torsten N. Wiesel, MD, when Weisel won the Nobel Prize in 1981. Dr. Lipton earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is board certified in neurology.

He is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Neurological Association.

In 2004, for his work on developing the drug memantine, Dr. Lipton was the recipient of the Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine, considered one of the top five or six medical prizes worldwide.

UC San Diego Health Links
For more information, see Neurological Institute.