
Adam Boxer, MD, PhD
Adam L. Boxer, MD, PhD, is the Endowed Professor in Memory and Aging in the Department of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he serves as director of the Neurosciences Clinical Research Unit and the Alzheimer’s Disease and Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD) Clinical Trials Program at the Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center, part of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences.
Dr. Boxer is an internationally recognized leader in the study and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly tauopathies, including frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). He has led Phase 1, 2, and 3 trials for FTLD, PSP, and AD, including the first North American, placebo-controlled trial in FTLD (memantine), the first international Phase 2/3 trial for PSP (davunetide), and early clinical trials for FTLD caused by progranulin mutations. He is a co-principal investigator for the NIH-funded ARTFL-LEFFTDS Longitudinal FTLD (ALLFTD) network, the North American research network focused on preparing for FTLD clinical trials, and the international Frontotemporal Dementia Prevention Initiative (FPI), a global effort to prepare for prevention clinical trials in genetic forms of FTLD.
Dr. Boxer leads two NIH-funded platform trials: the Alzheimer’s Tau Platform, which assesses tau therapies alone or with anti-amyloid drugs, and the PSP Trial Platform, which tests tau and neuroprotective therapies. His leadership of the 4-Repeat Tauopathy Neuroimaging Initiative (4RTNI) and FPI has developed foundational methods and datasets for FTLD clinical trials. He also co-founded the PSP and FTD Treatment Study Group (now the Research Roundtable), fostering collaboration among academic, government, and industry stakeholders to accelerate drug development.
