Rate My Professor Ralph Garruto

A human population biologist, Garruto focuses on natural experimental models of disease using field and laboratory methods. His research spans neurodegenerative disorders, including over four decades studying hyperendemic foci of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism-dementia in Pacific Island populations such as Guam; Lyme and tick-borne diseases; prion diseases like chronic wasting disease; health transition studies in Vanuatu and Ukraine; obesity, bionutrition, and food chain disorders. Ongoing projects are in Micronesia, Vanuatu, Ukraine, and the Northeast U.S. Laboratory efforts examine cellular and molecular mechanisms of neuronal degeneration, host-pathogen interactions, and gene-environment interactions. He began his career at the National Institutes of Health in 1973. Key publications include Arif M et al., 'Tau pathology involves protein phosphatase 2A in Parkinsonism-dementia of Guam' (PNAS, 2014); Garruto RM et al., 'Risk behaviors in a rural community with a known point-source exposure to chronic wasting disease' (Environmental Health, 2008); Sharareh N et al., 'Model-based risk assessment and public health analysis to prevent Lyme disease' (Royal Society Open Science, 2017); and Cervenakova L et al., 'Phenotype-genotype studies in kuru: Implications for new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease' (PNAS, 1998).