The long-term mission of our laboratory is to develop new therapeutic targets for Parkinson’s disease (PD) and related disorders, including dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and multiple system atrophy (MSA).

We take an innovative approach, relying on a combination of Drosophila, rodent models, human induced pluripotent stem cells, and human patient samples.

The two major areas of focus in the laboratory are 1) Defining the pathogenic contribution of glia to PD and related disorders, and 2) Understanding gene-environment interactions in PD and related disorders. Please see the Projects tab for more details.