Dr. Iqbal was the first to describe in 1974 the bulk isolation and protein composition of neurofibrillary tangles/paired helical filaments (PHF) from Alzheimer disease brains. In 1986 he, along with Dr. Inge Grundke-Iqbal, discovered that the PHF protein and the microtubule-associated protein tau are the same and that tau in PHF is hyperphosphorylated. Their search for an upstream-to-tau-pathology event led them to neurotrophic factors. In 1999 they discovered that CNTF could neutralize the FGF-2-mediated tau hyperphosphorylation in adult rat hippocampal neuroprogenitor cells and then, in 2003, they demonstrated that the pharmacologic enhancement of the dentate gyrus neurogenesis could improve the cognitive performance in adult rats. These pioneering studies led Drs. Iqbal and Grundke-Iqbal to the development of CNTF peptidergic compounds and a novel therapeutic approach that involved shifting the balance from neurodegeneration to the regeneration of the brain. They have shown that the CNTF peptidergic compounds can rescue cognitive impairment by rescuing the neurogenesis and the neuronal plasticity deficits in rodent models of familial and sporadic Alzheimer disease and Down syndrome.
Dr. Iqbal is the recipient of many prestigious honors and awards, including the Potamkin Prize for Alzheimer Disease research from the American Academy of Neurology, and the Zenith Award from the Alzheimer’s Association, U.S.A. He founded and chaired the biennial International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease from 1988 to 2008. In 2007, the Alzheimer’s Association, U.S.A. established a Khalid Iqbal Life Time Achievement Award for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, which is given out annually at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD) to a senior established Alzheimer disease researcher. Dr. Iqbal has authored over 300 scientific papers in prestigious American and international scientific journals and edited seven books on research advances in Alzheimer disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. He currently serves on the editorial boards of several journals.