With his research, Professor Hallbeck is a senior neuropathologist who aims to increase the understanding of why cells in the brain become sick and why disease spreads throughout the brain in patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The aim is to utilize this knowledge to develop novel therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Recently, the work of Hallbeck’s laboratory has included a breakthrough on how toxic protein aggregates piggyback on normal cellular machinery to spread pathology associated with Parkinson’s disease. Targeting these pathways will open new possibilities for diagnosis and treatment.