Molecular Pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most common movement disorder and the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s disease. Currently there is no effective therapy. The Xiong lab aims to understand the mechanisms underlying PD with a specific focus on four major questions: 1) How do PD-associated proteins contribute to dopaminergic neurodegeneration? 2) What are the new molecules and how are they involved in PD pathogenesis? 3) What is the human relevance of our findings? 4) How to develop the pharmacological strategies to slow down the PD symptoms?

To answer these questions, Dr. Xiong’s group has developed a variety of model systems from single cell organism budding yeast to Drosophila, mice, primary and human neuronal cultures. Using these systems, the lab’s general approaches are to use a powerful combination of genetics, molecular biology, viral approaches and behavioral analysis to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases in human. The lab’s research goal is to identify molecular therapeutic targets that will ultimately lead to developing effective biomarkers and treatments for PD.

The Xiong lab welcomes motivated postdocs and graduate students to join the team.