Dr. Krainc is the Aaron Montgomery Ward Professor of Neurology, chairman of the Department of Neurology and director of the Center for Rare Neurological Diseases (CRND) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Prior to joining Northwestern, Dr. Krainc spent 20 years at Harvard serving on the neurology faculty at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he also completed a neurology residency and a fellowship in movement disorders. Using induced pluripotent stem cells ("man-made" stem cells that can become other cell types) from specific neurons from individuals with Parkinson's, Dr. Krainc studies the molecular underpinnings of Parkinson's disease, focusing on genetic forms of disease. His recent work identified novel lysosomal mechanisms (sites that store enzymes to break down items in the cell) and targets, such glucocerebrosidase (an enzyme made by the GBA gene), to develop targeted therapies for Parkinson's and related synucleinopathies.