Richard Wurtman

A professor emeritus of neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Dr. Richard Wurtman is widely recognized for his groundbreaking research on neurotransmitters in the brain and nervous system. His 40-year body of work has focused on studying how various nutrients affect the neurotransmitters that influence appetite, sleep, mood, behavior, and cognitive health, and then using those findings to develop products that improve quality of life. After graduating from Harvard Medical School, Dr. Wurtman trained at Massachusetts General Hospital before joining the National Institutes of Health (NIH) lab run by Nobel Prize winner Julius Axelrod. In 1967, MIT invited him to start a neurochemistry and neuropharmacology program (later called the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences), and in the 1980s he began his 20-year tenure as director of MIT’s NIH Clinical Research Center.