Shawn Ferguson, PhD, is originally from Canada where he studied biochemistry and physiology at the University of Ottawa. His doctoral studies in neuroscience were performed at Vanderbilt University followed by cell biology postdoctoral training at Yale University. He is currently an Associate Professor of Cell Biology and of Neuroscience at Yale. Dr. Ferguson’s research has broadly contributed to the understanding of fundamental mechanisms whereby lysosome function is matched to changes in cellular demand. His longstanding experience in the investigation of membrane traffic and signaling in the endocytic pathway with specific emphasis on neuronal cell biology provides a strong foundation for dissecting endolysosomal pathway dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. His experience related to lysosome-based signaling will support efforts to understand crosstalk between lysosomes, mitochondria and other organelles. He furthermore brings major expertise in genome editing and in the use of human iPSCs to develop neuronal and glial models for investigating these problems.