World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Biology and Biochemistry
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Biology and Biochemistry

D-Index
154
Citations
86749
World Ranking
154
National Ranking
108

Medicine

D-Index
154
Citations
86782
World Ranking
1006
National Ranking
572

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in United States Leader Award
  • 2012 - Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Medical Research Award
  • 2011 - Distinguished Scientist Award, American Heart Association
  • 2006 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2001 - Member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM)
  • 2000 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 1998 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 1994 - Metlife Foundation Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease
  • Member of the Association of American Physicians
  • Member of the Association of American Physicians
  • Member of the Association of American Physicians
  • Member of the Association of American Physicians
  • Member of the Association of American Physicians

Overview

Robert W. Mahley is affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco in the United States. Their research primarily focuses on biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology, with significant contributions also in medicine. Subfields of interest include molecular biology, physiology, cell biology, cellular and molecular neuroscience, and neurology.

The main topics covered in their work include Alzheimer's disease research and treatments, RNA research and splicing, ubiquitin and proteasome pathways, RNA modifications and cancer, RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms, cellular transport and secretion, and nuclear receptors and signaling.

Frequent coauthors collaborating with this scientist include Jason A. Watts, Yaojuan Liu, Vivian G. Cheung, Zeynep Cakir, and Benjamin J. Polacco.

Common publication venues for their work are:

  • Alzheimer's & Dementia
  • Nucleic Acids Research
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Nature Neuroscience
  • Current Opinion in Neurobiology

Notable recent papers include:

  • The APOE-R136S mutation protects against APOE4-driven Tau pathology, neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation, 2023, Nature Neuroscience
  • APOE Christchurch-mimetic therapeutic antibody reduces APOE-mediated toxicity and tau phosphorylation, 2023, Alzheimer's & Dementia
  • Apolipoprotein E4 targets mitochondria and the mitochondria-associated membrane complex in neuropathology, including Alzheimer's disease, 2023, Current Opinion in Neurobiology
  • A common transcriptional mechanism involving R-loop and RNA abasic site regulates an enhancer RNA of APOE, 2022, Nucleic Acids Research
  • Quantitative Proteomic Analysis Reveals apoE4-Dependent Phosphorylation of the Actin-Regulating Protein VASP, 2023, Molecular & Cellular Proteomics

Throughout their career, the scientist has received several awards, including the Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Medical Research Award in 2012, the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Heart Association in 2011, and recognitions such as Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006, and membership in prestigious institutions including the National Academy of Medicine in 2001 and the National Academy of Sciences in 2000.

Other honors include being a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 1998, recipient of the Metlife Foundation Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease in 1994, and membership in the Association of American Physicians.

Best Publications

  • Apolipoprotein E: cholesterol transport protein with expanding role in cell biology.

    Robert W. Mahley

  • New genetic loci implicated in fasting glucose homeostasis and their impact on type 2 diabetes risk

    Josée Dupuis;Josée Dupuis;Claudia Langenberg;Inga Prokopenko;Richa Saxena;Richa Saxena

  • New genetic loci implicated in fasting glucose homeostasis and their impact on type 2 diabetes risk (vol 42, pg 105, 2010)

    J Dupuis;C Langenberg;I Prokopenko;R Saxena

  • Apolipoprotein E: far more than a lipid transport protein.

    Robert W. Mahley;Stanley C. Rall

  • A genome-wide association search for type 2 diabetes genes in African Americans.

    N D Palmer;C W McDonough;P J Hicks;B H Roh

  • Plasma lipoproteins: apolipoprotein structure and function.

    R W Mahley;T L Innerarity;S C Rall;K H Weisgraber

  • Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans

    Iosif Lazaridis;Iosif Lazaridis;Nick Patterson;Alissa Mittnik;Gabriel Renaud

  • The Simons Genome Diversity Project: 300 genomes from 142 diverse populations

    Swapan Mallick;Swapan Mallick;Swapan Mallick;Heng Li;Mark Lipson;Iain Mathieson

  • Apolipoprotein E4: A Causative Factor and Therapeutic Target in Neuropathology, Including Alzheimer's Disease

    Robert W. Mahley;Karl H. Weisgraber;Yadong Huang

  • Lipoprotein receptors and cholesterol homeostasis

    Robert W. Mahley;Thomas L. Innerarity

  • Apolipoprotein E associated with astrocytic glia of the central nervous system and with nonmyelinating glia of the peripheral nervous system.

    J K Boyles;R E Pitas;E Wilson;R W Mahley

  • Differential effects of apolipoproteins E3 and E4 on neuronal growth in vitro

    B. P. Nathan;S. Bellosta;D. A. Sanan;K. H. Weisgraber

  • Human apolipoprotein E. The complete amino acid sequence.

    S C Rall;K H Weisgraber;R W Mahley

  • Human E apoprotein heterogeneity. Cysteine-arginine interchanges in the amino acid sequence of the apo-E isoforms.

    K H Weisgraber;S C Rall;R W Mahley

  • Three-dimensional structure of the LDL receptor-binding domain of human apolipoprotein E.

    Charles Wilson;Mark R. Wardell;Karl H. Weisgraber;Robert W. Mahley

  • Astrocytes synthesize apolipoprotein E and metabolize apolipoprotein E-containing lipoproteins.

    Robert E. Pitas;Janet K. Boyles;Susan H. Lee;Donna Foss

  • Remnant lipoprotein metabolism: key pathways involving cell-surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans and apolipoprotein E.

    Robert W. Mahley;Zhong Sheng Ji

  • Abnormal lipoprotein receptor-binding activity of the human E apoprotein due to cysteine-arginine interchange at a single site.

    K H Weisgraber;T L Innerarity;R W Mahley

  • A role for apolipoprotein E, apolipoprotein A-I, and low density lipoprotein receptors in cholesterol transport during regeneration and remyelination of the rat sciatic nerve.

    J K Boyles;C D Zoellner;L J Anderson;L M Kosik

  • Erratum: New genetic loci implicated in fasting glucose homeostasis and their impact on type 2 diabetes risk (Nature Genetics (2010) 42 (105-116))

    Josée Dupuis;Claudia Langenberg;Inga Prokopenko;Richa Saxena

Frequent Co-Authors

Thomas L. Innerarity
Thomas L. Innerarity University of California, San Francisco
Karl H. Weisgraber
Karl H. Weisgraber University of California, San Francisco
Yadong Huang
Yadong Huang Gladstone Institutes
Robert E. Pitas
Robert E. Pitas University of California, San Francisco
Scott M. Grundy
Scott M. Grundy The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Dawn M. Waterworth
Dawn M. Waterworth Johnson & Johnson (United States)
Ruth McPherson
Ruth McPherson University of Ottawa
Philip J. Barter
Philip J. Barter University of New South Wales
Igor Rudan
Igor Rudan University of Edinburgh
Vincent Mooser
Vincent Mooser McGill University Health Centre

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