William C. Mobley, MD, PhD

Dr. Mobley is associate dean of neurosciences initiatives, distinguished professor of neurosciences and interim director of the Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion at UC San Diego. He also serves as executive director of UCSD's Down Syndrome Center for Research and Treatment and holds the Florence Riford Chair of Alzheimer Disease Research. He came to UCSD in June 2009 from Stanford University where he served as the John E. Cahill Family Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences. Dr. Mobley’s research is focused on degenerative diseases of the central nervous system, especially Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease. He and his colleagues have for many years explored the hypothesis that deficient axonal transport of neurotrophic factor signals contributes to neurodegeneration.

Dr. Mobley is past president of the Association of University Professors of Neurology, of the Professors of Child Neurology and of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Mobley received both the Zenith Award and Temple Award from the Alzheimer's Association and the Cotzias Award from the American Academy of Neurology. In 2007 he received the Christian Pueschel Memorial Research Award and in 2011 was honored with the International Sisley-Jérôme Lejeune Prize by the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation for his research contributions to Down syndrome and genetic intellectual disabilities. He was inducted into the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars in 2014. Dr. Mobley currently serves as chair of the Science and Clinical Advisory Committee of the National Down Syndrome Society and is president-elect of the Trisomy 21 Research Society.