William Seeley

UCSF neurologist William Seeley is among 22 MacArthur Foundation "genius" fellows, who each receive $500,000 no-strings attached awards.

Seeley is a clinician-researcher who integrates microscopy, magnetic resonance imaging and clinical examination to explore the structural, functional and behavioral aspects of human neurodegenerative disease. Seeley concentrates on frontotemporal dementia, a family of devastating neurological syndromes usually afflicting people in midlife and second only to Alzheimer's as the primary cause of progressive pre-senile dementia.

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellows are selected each year for their creativity, originality and potential to make important contributions in the future. MacArthur Fellowships come without stipulations or reporting requirements, which the foundation says gives them unprecedented freedom and opportunity to reflect, create and explore.

For more on Seeley, see the MacArthur Foundation's story and video profile about him.

In this recent UCTV video, Seeley and his colleagues discuss Alzheimer's and dementia research.

Other 2011 MacArthur fellows with UC ties are Kay Ryan, a former Poet Laureate of the United States who received her bachelor's and master's degrees from UCLA, and historian Tiya Miles, who was an assistant professor of ethnic studies at UC Berkeley from 2000-2002 before joining the University of Michigan, where she is a history professor and chair of the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies.