Kenneth H. Fischbeck became Chief of the newly created Neurogenetics Branch of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) in 1998. His laboratory is studying the mechanisms of hereditary neurological and neuromuscular disorders, particularly the polyglutamine expansion neurodegenerative diseases (Huntington's disease, Kennedy's disease, and spinocerebellar ataxia). The disease mechanisms are studied in cell culture and other model systems. A genetic outreach program is intended to identify and characterize patients and families with hereditary neurological diseases.

He contributed to more than 160 publications and more than 20 book chapters. His work has earned him a list of honors including recognition in “Best Doctors of America”, the Cotzias Award from the American Academy of Neurology (1998) and the Jacoby Award of the American Neurological Association (2004). He was also elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (1999).

Prior to coming to the NIH he was a member of the faculty of the Neurology Department at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School since 1982. He was honored with the “Award for Excellence in Teaching” by the University of Pennsylvania Medical School Class of 1999. Dr. Fischbeck received AB and AM degrees in Biochemical Sciences and Biology from Harvard University and an MD degree from Johns Hopkins. After a medical internship at Case Western Reserve University and a neurology residency at the University of California in San Francisco, he did postdoctoral research on muscular dystrophy at the University of Pennsylvania.