Paul Greengard

Paul Greengard (December 11, 1925 – April 13, 2019) was an American neuroscientist whose research on intracellular signaling pathways in neurons earned him a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000. Born in New York City, Greengard advanced the understanding of how neurotransmitters modulate neuronal activity through mechanisms such as protein phosphorylation and second messenger systems, laying foundational insights into brain cell communication.

Greengard served as the Vincent Astor Professor of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience at The Rockefeller University from 1983 onward and directed the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research there, applying his expertise to neurodegenerative disorders. His discoveries, shared with Arvid Carlsson and Eric Kandel, illuminated the biochemical processes underlying synaptic transmission and contributed to therapeutic developments for conditions involving dopamine dysregulation, such as Parkinson's disease.31189-4/fulltext) In recognition of his mother's legacy, he established the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize to support women in biomedical science.

Paul Greengard was born on December 11, 1925, in New York City to Jewish parents; his mother, Pearl Meister, died during childbirth. His father, Benjamin Greengard, had been a vaudeville performer before becoming a businessman in the cosmetics industry. The family's paternal lineage traced back to a great-great-grandfather who emigrated from Königsberg (present-day Kaliningrad) to St. Louis in the 1850s, with subsequent generations settling in upstate New York.

When Greengard was 13 months old, his father remarried an Episcopalian woman, who raised him and his siblings in the Christian tradition despite their biological parents' Jewish heritage. This union effectively severed early ties to his maternal Jewish family, which were not reestablished until later in his life.