Dr. Marzena Kurzawa-Akanbi received her PhD in 2011 from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. Her work contributed to early research that evaluated glucocerebrosidase (GBA) as a risk factor in developing Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). She used genetic and functional techniques for this research.

Currently, Dr. Kurzawa-Akanbi is studying the complex molecular biology aspects of disease development in DLB and PD. As part of this research, she uses next generation sequencing methods (modern techniques to sequence DNA) to determine the genetic basis of DLB, as well as elucidate the involvement of mitochondrial genetics in the pathology of PD. Dr. Kurzawa-Akanbi focuses specifically on validating GBA as a risk factor and a potential therapeutic target. She is engaged in a network of collaborations aimed at unraveling the complexity of this mechanism using tissue samples.