Loukia Parisiadou, PhD, studies the cellular and molecular pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease (PD). She completed her postdoctoral training in Dr. Andy Singleton’s laboratory at the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Parisiadou joined a few years after the laboratory showed that mutations in the LRRK2 gene cause PD. This discovery sparked her scientific interest in determining the physiological functions of the protein encoded by LRRK2 in the mammalian brain and the molecular mechanism(s) through which disease-associated variants in the LRRK2 gene induce neuronal dysfunction. Over the past 14 years, her efforts to study LRRK2-related PD provided novel insights into the undetermined role of LRRK2 kinase. It also led to the generation of several preclinical models and conceptual advances on the molecular basis of PD. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the Parisiadou laboratory at Northwestern studies the neuronal cell-type-specific dysfunctions in PD and is supported by grants from NINDS and MJFF.