He is an expert on Alzheimer's disease and has spent the majority of his career at the University of Michigan, its medical school, and its Health System.
[2] He graduated from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for his undergraduate degree in 1954 and its medical school in 1957,[3][4] receiving the highest academic honors.
[2] He worked at the National Institutes of Health and performed authoritative research regarding brain control of motor functions and muscle tone.
[3] He began working at Columbia University in 1968, and in 1976 he was named the first H. Houston Merritt chair in research neurology.
In 2013, Gilman was implicated in the insider trading scandal concerning the Alzheimer's medication bapineuzumab, a drug which was being developed by Wyeth and Élan.
[1][6] In exchange for lighter punishment, Gilman agreed to testify and implicate Mathew Martoma of CR Intrinsic, a company affiliated with the hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors.