Anatol Kreitzer has more than 20 years of experience in academic neuroscience research, focused on the mechanisms of neuromodulation and the application of optogenetics, electrophysiology and imaging to understand neural circuit function and dysfunction. Over the past two decades, his academic research has focused on the basal ganglia, a highly conserved brain region that controls motivation, decision making and the automation of behavior. His laboratory has made important advances in the cellular, synaptic and circuit mechanisms underlying motor deficits in Parkinson’s disease and dyskinesia. Using optogenetics, his laboratory established how activating specific types of cells in the basal ganglia could either mimic or reverse parkinsonian motor symptoms. Earlier in his career, he made seminal discoveries about the mechanisms of endocannabinoid signaling in the central nervous system. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a doctorate in neurobiology from Harvard University.