The principal focus of Prof. Dexter's research group has been to understand the neurodegenerative mechanisms causing Parkinson’s disease utilizing human tissue along with cellular and in vivo animal models in order to identify drug target sites for the development of novel therapies. Their long-term goal is translating successful pre-clinical therapeutics into clinical trials. A major recent achievement in this translational approach has been the initiation of a pilot clinical trial in Parkinson’s disease with the iron-chelator Deferiprone. His team was the first to conclusively prove that increased brain iron levels are associated with the neurodegenerative process in Parkinson’s disease and subsequently went on to demonstrate that iron-chelators can remove excess brain iron and are neuroprotective in pre-clinical models of Parkinson’s disease, which has given support for the clinical trial. In addition to being head of the Parkinson’s disease research unit at Imperial College, Professor Dexter is also scientific director of the Parkinson’s UK tissue bank.