Krainc Dimitri
Academic titles:
- professor Doctor of Science
Membership in the Academy:
- corresponding member – Department of Medical Sciences (5/16/2024 – …)
Curriculum Vitae
Dimitri Krainc was born in Celje, Slovenia. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Zagreb and completed his neurology residency and fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard Medical School) where he served on neurology faculty. After more than twenty years at Harvard, he became chair of the Department of Neurology at the Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, where he also directs the Neuroscience Institute and Center for Neurogenetics. As one of the leading researchers in the field of neuroscience, Professor Krainc defined key molecular pathways in the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration, particularly by discovering mitochondrial and lysosomal pathogenic mechanisms. His research group made a fundamental discovery of direct contacts between mitochondria and lysosomes, providing a new approach for studying these organelles in health and disease. In addition, Krainc’s research group discovered pathogenic mechanisms of neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease observed only in human neurons, but not in rodent models. This key discovery provided a new framework for the development of targeted therapies for Parkinson’s disease based on a detailed mechanistic understanding of the disease in relevant human neurons. Based on these discoveries, his research group developed new therapeutic approaches for patients with Parkinson’s disease. In his role as chair of Neurology, prof. Krainc tripled research and clinical services, established several centers and elevated the department into one of the top academic neurology programs.
The cumulative Impact Factor of his 10 most significant publications as the senior corresponding author is 567 (56 per publication). He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his work, including the Javits Neuroscience Award and the Outstanding Investigator Award from the US National Institutes of Health. Krainc was elected to the Association of American Physicians, the US National Academy of Medicine (part of the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine) and the US National Academy of Inventors. Krainc serves as the president of the American Neurological Association.
At the Faculty of Medicine in Zagreb, he founded the Center for Functional Genomics and over the years participated in various academic activities at the Medical School and the Clinical Center in Zagreb.