Scientific Committee
Poul Henning Jensen
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Marina Romero-Ramos
Position: Professor
Degree: PhD
Affiliation: PACE & Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University
Biosketch and Research Focus: Prof. Romero-Ramos obtained her PhD from the University of Seville (Spain) in 2000, followed by postdoctoral training at UCLA (USA) with Dr. M-F. Chesselet and as a Marie Curie Fellow at Lund University (Sweden) with Drs. T. Bjorklund and D. Kirik. She joined Aarhus University as an Assistant Prof. in 2006, where she is now Professor of Neuroscience. Her research focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s disease, with particular emphasis on the role of α-synuclein and neuroimmune interactions in disease progression. Her group combines animal and cellular models with the analysis of patient-derived biological samples to better understand disease mechanisms and identify novel therapeutic targets.
Amanda L. Woerman
Position: Associate Professor
Degree: PhD
Affiliation: Colorado State University, USA
Biosketch and Research Focus: Dr. Amanda L. Woerman earned her PhD in biomedical sciences at George Washington University before pursuing postdoctoral training with Dr. Stanley Prusiner at the University of California San Francisco. In 2019, she started her independent laboratory at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and moved to Colorado State University in 2023. Dr. Woerman’s research uses a protein chemistry approach to understand tau and a-synuclein strain biology, which her team harnesses to pursue a personalized medicine approach to diagnosing and treating tauopathies and synucleinopathies.
George Tofaris
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Maria Xilouri
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Pekka Kallunki
Position: Research Fellow
Degree: PhD
Affiliation: H. Lundbeck A/S
Biosketch and Research Focus: Pekka Kallunki, PhD, is a Research Fellow at H. Lundbeck A/S, where he has worked since 1997 in neuroscience drug discovery and development. He has led internal and
external research projects, including programs supported by The Michael J. Fox Foundation and the European Union. His recent research focuses on α-synucleinopathies, particularly the development and characterization of α-synuclein-targeting therapeutics and biomarkers for Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy. His work includes the development of the α-synuclein antibody amlenetug (Lu AF82422), currently in phase 3 for Multiple system atrophy, α-synuclein seed-amplification assays, and CSF biomarkers for MSA.
Leonidas Stefanis
Position: Professor of Neurology, Director, First Department of
Neurology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, and Affiliated Investigator, Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens
Degree: MD, PhD
Affiliation: First Department of Neurology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School; Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens
Biosketch and Research Focus: Dr. Stefanis obtained his MD from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) Medical School in 1987 and his PhD from the same University in 1992, with work related to the molecular basis of thalassemia. In 1991, he moved to the US, where he trained as Resident in Neurology at Columbia University in New York. In 1995, he embarked on a post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Lloyd Greene, in the Dept. of Pathology, while in parallel he completed a two-year fellowship on Neurobehaviour, in the Dept. of Neurology at Columbia University. His work during this time centered on mechanisms of neuronal cell death. In 1998 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Neurology in the Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in the Dept. of Neurology at Columbia University, position which he held up till 2003. During this time, he focused on the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders, with an emphasis on Parkinson’s Disease (PD). In 2003 he moved back to Greece as Researcher Level B at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA), and set up a laboratory focusing on mechanisms of neurodegeneration, in particular in relation to protein degradation systems, alpha-synuclein and PD. In 2006 he was appointed Associate Professor in the NKUA Medical School, while he continued his work at BRFAA as affiliated investigator. In 2011 he was appointed Director of the Second Department of Neurology at Attikon Hospital and in 2012 he was elected to the position of Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology at the NKUA. In 2017, he moved as Director to the First Department of Neurology at Eginitio Hospital. Currently, he is investigating various areas of PD pathogenesis, ranging from the bench to the bedside. He is examining the genetic underpinnings of the disease in the Greek population. A special focus is rare cases with genetic synucleinopathies, carriers of the p.A30G or p.A53T SNCA mutations, as well as patients with GBA1 or PRKN mutations. He is examining the utility of using alpha-synuclein, elements of the Autophagy Lysosome Pathway (ALP), or measurements of PRKN expression as disease biomarkers. He is examining pathways of neurotoxicity and aggregation induced by aberrant alpha-synuclein, with an emphasis on the involvement of protein degradation pathways, such as Chaperone-Mediated Autophagy. Conversely, he applies experimental therapeutics aiming to boost such intrinsic pathways, in order to confer neuroprotection in synucleinopathies. He is using a wide array of approaches, ranging from cellular and animal models to studies of patients’ biological material.
Dr Laura Parkkinen
Position: Professor of Translational Neuropathology, UK Director of the Oxford Brain Bank, UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) Parkinson’s Research Centre Group Leader
Degree: PhD
Affiliation: The Oxford Brain Bank, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford
Biosketch and Research Focus: With more than 20 years of experience in neuropathological research and diagnostics, Dr Parkkinen specialises in neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). She leads the multidisciplinary Translational Neuropathology Group (TNG), which combines human neuropathology with advanced molecular and computational approaches to understand the disease mechanisms and identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
Leading the Oxford Brain Bank and having worked in several leading European brain banks, Dr Parkkinen has extensive expertise in brain donation, neuropathological methodologies, and diagnostic practise. She has contributed to international consensus initiatives that have helped standardise and refine neuropathological consensus criteria for neurodegenerative diseases.
Her current research focuses on molecular and pathological profiling of human protein aggregates, seed amplification assays, AI-enabled digital pathology, and spatial multiomics, including transcriptomics and proteomic approaches. Her work has received >10,000 times (h-index 42), and is supported by UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI), Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP), Parkinson’s UK, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the GSK–Institute of Molecular and Computational Medicine, the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network.
Dr Parkkinen collaborates extensively through national and international research networks, including Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre, Brains for Dementia Research (BDR), the UKDRI and ASAP. She is also committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, has completed the
Wellcome-funded Inclusive Leadership Programme and contributes to public engagement through organisations such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Sreeganga Chandra
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Andrew B. West
Position: Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology;
Director, Duke Center for Neurodegeneration and Neurotherapeutics
Degree: PhD
Affiliation: Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North
Carolina, USA
Biosketch and Research Focus: Andrew B. West is Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology and Director of the Duke Center for Neurodegeneration and Neurotherapeutics at Duke University, with additional appointments in Neurology, Neurobiology, and Cell Biology. He earned his PhD at Mayo Clinic and completed postdoctoral training at UCLA and Johns Hopkins University. His laboratory investigates mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s disease and related synucleinopathies, with the goal of developing biomarkers and therapies that slow or prevent disease progression.
His research focuses on α-synuclein structure, aggregation, propagation, and toxicity, and their relationships with LRRK2 signaling, lysosomal function, and neuroimmune responses. His group combines experimental models with human biospecimens to understand how these processes contribute to differences in disease susceptibility and progression. He leads an Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s collaborative team investigating pathological protein structures and their relationship to clinical and biological heterogeneity in Parkinson’s disease. Additional work examines how environmental exposures, including nanoplastics, influence α-synuclein biology and neurodegeneration. Across these efforts, his laboratory emphasizes collaborative research and the development and sharing of tools that support therapeutic discovery.
Friederike Zunke
Position: Professor of Translational Neuroscience; Deputy Head, Department of Molecular Neurology
Degree: PhD
Affiliation: Department of Molecular Neurology, University Hospital Erlangen; Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Germany
Biosketch and Research Focus: Friederike Zunke and her team investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases and proteinopathies, with a particular focus on lysosomal and autophagic dysfunction, protein aggregation, and intercellular communication. The group combines structural and biochemical studies of disease-relevant proteins with cellular and in vivo approaches to understand how changes in protein structure and function contribute to impaired proteostasis and neurodegeneration. Particular areas of interest include α-synuclein biology, the GBA1/GCase-LIMP-2 axis, and lysosomal cathepsins. Using complementary approaches ranging from structural biology and protein biochemistry to patient-derived iPSC models, advanced imaging, proteomics extracellular vesicle (EV) analyses, and in vivo models, the team aims to translate mechanistic insights into novel biomarkers and disease-modifying therapeutic strategies.