Paul Hagerman is a distinguished professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine and a MIND Institute investigator at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. His research interests are in the area of molecular genetics, with a particular emphasis on neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative conditions associated with mutations in FMR1.

The Hagerman lab has made many important observations related to the gene expression mechanisms of FMR1, including the discovery, with his wife, Randi Hagerman, of the neurodegenerative condition, fragile X–associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS). He has also published on the relationship between FMRP levels and intelligence quotient (IQ), and the correlation of FMRP to other molecular and clinical variables, including cognitive and clinical outcomes.