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Dr. Gerardo Morfini was the winner of the 2007 Jordi-Folch-Pi Memorial Award. The main goal of Dr. Morfini's research is to elucidate molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of intracellular trafficking in neuronal cells. Gerardo Morfini obtained his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the National University of Cordoba, Argentina, working with his advisor Dr. Alfredo Caceres on the biology of kinesin-related proteins in the nervous system. During his postdoctoral training in Dr. Scott Brady's laboratory, Dr. Morfini helped identifying the protein kinases that directly modify kinesin and cytoplasmic dynein, two major microtubule-dependent motors responsible for the execution of fast axonal transport (FAT) in mature neurons. Significantly, his recent work indicates that alterations in phosphorylation-dependent regulatory mechanisms for FAT might represent a critical event in the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, among others. Findings derived from this research provided a unique conceptual framework for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Morfini has recently been appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research efforts have been supported by funding from the Marine Biological Laboratory, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association (ALSA) and the Huntington's Disease Society of America (HDSA). Dr. Morfini (right) is pictured above receiving his award from ASN President Monica Carson.