Dennis Bourdette, MD, Roy and Eulalia Swank Family Research Professor, and Chair, Department of Neurology, received the 2010 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of California Davis School of Medicine for outstanding achievements in medicine.  

"We are proud to honor Dr. Bourdette with this award," said Claire Pomeroy, MD, MBA, Vice Chancellor and Dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine. "As founder and director of the OHSU Multiple Sclerosis Center, he is widely recognized as a national expert on the clinical care of multiple sclerosis, with patients referred to him by neurologists from throughout the Pacific Northwest."  

Dr. Bourdette's research focuses on lipoic acid – an anti-oxidant that he has proved to be effective in an animal model of multiple sclerosis. In collaboration with other researchers, he also discovered that inactivation of a mitochondrial protein, cyclophilin D, is neuroprotective in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). This discovery has served as the basis for a patent application and the emerging development of a novel therapy for multiple sclerosis. 

"I am deeply honored to receive this award," said Dr. Bourdette. "I had great teachers at UC Davis School of Medicine who taught me that my first duty as a physician was to serve my patients. I will always be grateful to them and UC Davis."