Dr. Daniel Ysselstein is a director of biology at Vanqua Bio, a Chicago-based biotech company focused on developing novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative disease. Since Vanqua’s inception in late 2019, Dr. Ysselstein has led the Vanqua biology team in the discovery of novel small-molecule activators of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase. Dr. Ysselstein received his doctorate in medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology from Purdue University in 2017, working in the lab of Dr. Chris Rochet. He conducted postdoctoral research at Northwestern University in the lab of Dr. Dimitri Krainc, where his research focused on using induced pluripotent stem cells to study the role of lysosomal dysfunction in neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson’s disease.