Luigi Zecca received his Chemistry Doctor and MD from the University of Milano (Italy). He has worked as a researcher on the Italian National Council of Research since 1984 and presently serves as head of the Multifactorial Disease Unit at the Institute of Biomedical Technologies in Milano. In 1990 he also became a member of the Steering Committee of the Institute. His research interest is in neurodegenerative mechanisms of Parkinson's disease with particular emphasis on the role of neuromelanin, metals and nitric oxide. He has described key aspects of the neuromelanin structure, synthesis, accumulation in aging, interaction with metals, role in glial activation and others.