Dr. Katerina Akassoglou, PhD

Professor of Neurology, UC San Francisco (UCSF)

Katerina Akassoglou, PhD, is a senior Investigator at Gladstone Institutes and a professor of neurology at UC San Francisco (UCSF). A native of Greece, Akassoglou earned both a bachelor’s of science in biology and a PhD in neuroimmunology at the University of Athens, Greece, and trained in neuropathology with Hans Lassmann at the University of Vienna. She completed her postdoctoral work at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Rockefeller University with Sidney Strickland, and at New York University with Moses Chao. Prior to joining Gladstone in 2008, Akassoglou was an assistant professor of pharmacology at UC San Diego.

Akassoglou has pioneered studies on the mechanisms that control the communication between the brain, immune and vascular systems—and in particular the role of the blood clotting–factor fibrinogen as a common thread in a wide range of neurologic diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and neurodegenerative diseases. She developed cutting-edge imaging tools to study the neurovascular interface and discovered a novel fibrin-targeting immunotherapy and small molecule compounds to protect the brain from pathogenic neuroinflammation.

Akassoglou has led multiple international collaborations between academia and pharma, and has given over 200 lectures nationally and internationally. She is active in several scientific organizations, editorial boards, and funding agencies, has published over 100 papers and book chapters, and is a named inventor on 10 issued patents and several patent applications. Akassoglou is also the scientific founder and board director of the spin-out company Therini Bio.

Akassoglou has received several awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the US government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. She has also been presented with the John J. Abel Award, the Dana Foundation for Brain and Immunoimaging Award, the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise honor, The Marilyn Hilton Award for Innovation in Multiple Sclerosis Research, the R35 Research Program Award by NINDS, and the Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research. Akassoglou is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the American Neurological Association. She was named among the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business in 2021 by the San Francisco Business Times.