Dr Lena Brundin is a certified psychiatrist with a PhD in Neurobiology. Her research interests relate to examining how neuroinflammation—and the metabolic metabolites generated by inflammation — influence neuronal survival and neurotransmission, thereby affecting emotion, behavior and motor function. In her first studies at Lund University she analyzed immune responses in the central nervous system in models of Parkinson’s disease. In 2012, Dr. Brundin joined the Van Andel Research Institute, where she established the Laboratory of Behavioral Medicine. Dr. Brundin leads several clinical and pre-clinical studies that aim to determine the roles of neuroinflammation and neurotoxic metabolites in Parkinson’s disease and psychiatric disorders, for example suicidality in patients with major depressive disorder (currently funded by NIH). Her laboratory specializes in analyses of immune-stimulating cytokines (using high-sensitivity electrochemiluminescence) and metabolites (using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry).