Field Loses Another Prominent Neuropathologist, Donald Price, 87
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The Alzheimer’s community lost another notable member with the May 5 passing of Donald Price of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, at the age of 87. Price’s work on the cholinergic system was instrumental in the development of cholinesterase inhibitors, and in 1984 he founded one of the first five Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers. A neuropathologist by training, he generated animal models of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Alzforum readers may remember him in particular for his work on γ-secretase and BACE, including BACE knockout mice (Jul 2002 conference news; Nov 2002 conference news; Apr 2006 conference news).
Don Price, at the Alzheimer 100 Centennial meeting, Tuebingen, Germany, 2006.
“The research atmosphere in Don’s lab was inspiring, enlightening, and enjoyable,” Lary Walker at Emory University, Atlanta, who studied with him, wrote to Alzforum (comment below). “When making the daily rounds, his standard opening query was ‘Any breakthroughs?’ We quickly learned to anticipate this direct (but loaded) question, and as a result we began to think more broadly and deeply about the implications of our everyday research activities.”
Price earned his medical degree from Albany Medical College, New York, in 1961, and worked as a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, before turning to research. He joined Johns Hopkins in 1971, and there founded the neuropathology division and brain bank. He led the ADRC there until he retired in 2010.
Over the course of his career, Price received numerous honors, including the 1991 Soriano Award from the American Neurological Association, the 1992 Potamkin Prize, and a 2015 lifetime achievement award from the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. He served as president of the Society for Neuroscience and the American Association of Neuropathologists, authored more than 500 papers, and trained hundreds of medical and graduate students.
In addition to neuroscience, Price loved the classics. His undergraduate degree was in English literature, and he was known to quote Shakespeare and Dante in scientific presentations, and play Wagner or Puccini during grant reviews. He was also an avid athlete who once participated in an Iron Man triathlon. Johns Hopkins will host a memorial on November 10. If you would like to share a memory or photo of Price, please contact us below.—Madolyn Bowman Rogers
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Emory University
The research atmosphere in Don's lab was inspiring, enlightening, and enjoyable. When making the daily rounds, his standard opening query was “Any breakthroughs?” We quickly learned to anticipate this direct, but loaded, question, and as a result we began to think more broadly and deeply about the implications of our everyday research activities.
As an undergraduate, Don majored in English literature, which enriched his scientific writing. He also had an abiding interest in opera and the humanities; in his scientific presentations, this passion kindled delightful analogies and references (e.g., describing an indirect experimental finding as “shadows on the wall of Plato's cave”). He constantly immersed himself in the scientific literature, and he was a strong believer in continuing education; he would awaken early in the morning to pore over such tomes as "Molecular Biology of the Cell" before coming into the lab.
Don's research output was prodigious in multiple arenas; in the Alzheimer’s field, he will always be known for his pioneering work on the involvement of the cholinergic system in AD, but perhaps his greatest long-term impact has been in the domains of disease modeling and molecular mechanisms. He contributed to the training of many notable researchers, and during his career he served as president of the American Association of Neuropathologists and the Society for Neuroscience. Don will be missed by those of us who had the good fortune to join him in his quest to understand and alleviate neurodegenerative diseases.
Goizueta Institute @ Emory Brain Health
I was saddened to hear that Don had passed recently. Many of us affectionally referred to Don as “big” Don. Though Don was not a small man, the big reference applied in many ways. Indeed, Don not only had a big vision, but he truly had a big heart. He was passionate and cared about getting things right and making a difference in the field. The pedigree of AD scientists and other neurodegenerative researchers who trained with him and went on to have impactful careers is pretty darn amazing. Even though I never was a direct trainee of Don’s, back when I first started in the AD field as an M.D./Ph.D. student, Don took time to get to know me, discuss science, and provide career advice. Big Don truly was one of the pioneers in the AD field who made major impacts from neuropathology and neurochemistry, to molecular mechanisms and models. He was an amazing mentor and leaves an incredible legacy behind. His passing is a big loss for the field.
ADvantage
I was very saddened to read about the passing of Don Price, an excellent scientist, mentor and a collaborator of mine since the late ’80s. During my Ph.D. studies I discovered that the serine protease inhibitor (serpin) alpha-1-anti-chymotrypsin (ACT) was tightly associated with the amyloid plaques in the AD brain (Abraham et al., 1988, 1991. Today ACT is known as sepinA3 and is detected in numerous gene expression analyses in the CNS (Zattoni et al., 2022) and in cancer. Don became interested in ACT and together with Eddie Koo we published that ACT is produced by astrocytes and related to astrogliosis (Koo et al., 1991), and together with Linda Cork we reported that monkey amyloid plaques also contain ACT (Abraham et al., 1989). The discussions I had with Don and his lab members were always stimulating and informative. His passion for neuroscience was infectious. I will miss him dearly
References:
Abraham CR, Selkoe DJ, Potter H. Immunochemical identification of the serine protease inhibitor alpha 1-antichymotrypsin in the brain amyloid deposits of Alzheimer's disease. Cell. 1988 Feb 26;52(4):487-501. PubMed.
Koo EH, Abraham CR, Potter H, Cork LC, Price DL. Developmental expression of alpha 1-antichymotrypsin in brain may be related to astrogliosis. Neurobiol Aging. 1991 Sep-Oct;12(5):495-501. PubMed.
Abraham CR, Razzaboni BL, Sisodia SS, Koo EH, Price DL, Van Nostrand WE, Papastoitsis G. Studies on the proteolytic degradation of the beta-protein precursor by proteases purified from Alzheimer's disease brain. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1991;640:161-5. PubMed.
Koo EH, Abraham CR, Potter H, Cork LC, Price DL. Developmental expression of alpha 1-antichymotrypsin in brain may be related to astrogliosis. Neurobiol Aging. 1991 Sep-Oct;12(5):495-501. PubMed.
Abraham CR, Selkoe DJ, Potter H, Price DL, Cork LC. Alpha 1-antichymotrypsin is present together with the beta-protein in monkey brain amyloid deposits. Neuroscience. 1989;32(3):715-20. PubMed.
Columbia University
Don was a great friend to me, offering advice and direction during the early years of my career. He was always available for a quick call and not afraid of giving his help or opinions about scientific work. He set a high bar for a career helping others.
Indiana University
I was saddened to learn of Don Price’s passing. He played an instrumental role in my training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where I was a postdoctoral fellow in a collaborating lab, John Gearhart's. As Todd mentioned, we called him “Big Don” to distinguish him from the other Don at JHU at the time, Don Cleveland.
Don was an incredible supporter and advocate for research trainees working in the neurodegenerative research endeavor at JHU and beyond. Even though I was in a collaborating lab, Don (and Sam Sisodia) welcomed me into the neuropathology research labs and strongly supported my career through the rest of my time at JHU and beyond.
Dan was warm, funny, and kind, and was one of the staunchest advocates for the value of animal models for the study of neurodegenerative diseases that certainly has followed me ever since (I think he would be excited to know about the existence of MODEL-AD). I have aimed to follow Don’s example and positively impact the lives of my trainees, even those not in my lab group. The world seems a smaller place knowing that Don is no longer in it. RIP Don.
Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, and DZNE Tübingen
I was never a member of the Don Price lab at JHU, but as a postdoctoral fellow at the Gerontology Research Center, NIA, in Baltimore, I visited often and worked closely with members of the lab. At that time, the lab included brilliant scientists such as Lary Walker, Sam Sisodia, Phil Wong, Linda Cork, Juan Troncoso, Vasillis Koliatos, Cheryl Kit, Lee Martin, and many others. Each time I visited, I sensed a vibrant environment on the front lines of Alzheimer's disease. It was the time when the first APP transgenic mice were developed, and although this did not happen in the Price lab, I felt that Don was the eminence in deciding whether the Alzheimer pathology in the mouse model was real or an artifact (Jucker et al., 1992). This was when α-secretase was identified and Alzheimer's pathology was described in old, nonhuman primates, all at around the same time in the Price lab.
Don Price (left), with Colin Masters, at the Alzheimer 100 Centennial meeting in Tübingen, Germany.
As a young postdoc, I always felt welcome in Don's lab. It was a wonderful time in my career and undoubtedly one of the best times in my scientific life. I also remember Don attending the 2006 AD centennial meeting that we organized in Tübingen. Although I didn’t get the chance to meet Don again in the last 15 years, I miss him.
References:
Jucker M, Walker LC, Martin LJ, Kitt CA, Kleinman HK, Ingram DK, Price DL. Age-associated inclusions in normal and transgenic mouse brain. Science. 1992 Mar 13;255(5050):1443-5. PubMed.
National Institute on Aging
When the Young Tiger Met the Old Lion
"Hey, Tiger, what's up?" came a cheerful morning greeting from a distance. Don approached me as I juggled several timers for my ongoing experiments. This exchange had become a regular occurrence during my mission to create BACE1 knockout mice. The exhilaration I felt when I first discovered the complete absence of beta carboxy-terminal fragments of the amyloid precursor protein in the BACE1 knockout samples still resonates with me. It remains the most intense and exciting memory of my research career, reigniting my passion for scientific exploration and propelling me into my current role as a principal investigator at the National Institutes of Health for the past 20 years.
From a young age, I had always envisioned myself as a scientist. However, my conviction was severely tested during my graduate school years when I realized that intelligence and hard work alone did not guarantee success in research. Nevertheless, a glimmer of hope remained, leading me to pursue postdoctoral training in the lab of Phil Wong and Don in the Division of Neuropathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The memory of my first encounter with Don remains vivid in my mind. As he looked into my eyes, he said, "Huaibin, we're thrilled to have you in the lab. We're going to make you successful!" I had never felt so empowered before. His trust and support transformed my perception of the role of mentors. I realized that what I needed was not just guidance on conducting experiments, but also a supportive environment to foster personal growth. Don, above all, was a true leader, as evidenced by the numerous principal investigators he has mentored. He has always been my role model for leading my own research programs.
In addition to our morning greetings, Don often reminded me to return home early when he left the lab. He truly cared about the well-being of his people. He also displayed a keen interest in my home country, China. In the '90s, China was still a developing nation in transition to a market economy. At that time, I was more focused on political reform, while Don emphasized the importance of prioritizing economic modernization and industrialization. Looking back, I must admit that Don's wisdom extended beyond the realm of science. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had Don as my mentor during the most critical phase of my research career. I aspire to carry forward his legacy and impart his wisdom to the next generation of scientists.
Lund University
Although I didn’t stay long in Don’s Neuropathology Lab at Johns Hopkins, my time as a postdoc in his wonderful lab was very memorable and stuck with me as an example of how a research environment should be. I never quite experienced this combination of scientific curiosity, stimulating discussions, breath of projects, and hard work that was supported by the warmth and enthusiasm of the lab head and my more immediate supervisor in his group.
The combination of clinical neuropathology with neuroscience of disease & neuroanatomy research in this lab environment was inspirational. The researchers I met there spread out, and many became leaders in their field. Don certainly was a role model. He had a rare background in clinical neurology and neuropathology combined with experimental neuroscience, which became more difficult to combine the way he did.
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