Dr. Tong H. Joh was born in Korea, received his BA in Chemistry at Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea, in 1953, and his PhD in Biochemistry at New York University in 1971. He was appointed as Instructor of Neurobiology, Department of Neurology, Cornell University Medical College in 1972, and stayed in Cornell Med as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor. Dr. Joh became Professor Emeritus of Neurobiology in 2004, but continued his research activity as Director of the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory at Burke Medical Research Institute (1985 to 2005), Cornell University Medical College (presently Weill Medical College of Cornell University). Currently, he continues his research as Professor Emeritus at Department of Neurology and Neuroscience, Weill Medical College in New York City. From his PhD studies to the present, Dr. Joh's goal has been to characterize dopamine (DA) neuronal plasticity, biochemistry and genetic analysis of catecholamine biosynthesis, especially DA biosynthesis, and molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie DA neuronal degeneration. He has published over 300 refereed articles in major international journals and nearly 100 books/book chapters on these studies, and he was named as an original member of 100 highly cited, influential researchers in Neuroscience by the Institute of Scientific Information in 2001. Dr. Joh and his colleagues recently found that an endopeptidase, matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3), plays a pivotal role in degeneration of nigrostriatal DA neurons, and proposed a hypothesis that abrogation of MMP-3 or inhibition of MMP-3 activity may attenuate or prevent DA neuronal degeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD). His current research interest is to find molecular mechanisms that govern MMP-3 actions in degeneration of DA neurons. He believes that this study will lead to an effective therapy for PD.