Dr. Owen A. Ross is a native of the north of Ireland who obtained his PhD in the genetics of aging from the University of Ulster and Queens University Belfast in Ireland. In 2005, he moved to the Department of Neuroscience at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Jacksonville, Florida to work with Professor Matthew J. Farrer. In 2010, Dr. Ross started his independent lab and now pursues the role of LRRK2 genetics in Parkinson's disease, with over 50 publications in this specific area. His work includes identification of the most common genetic cause of Parkinson's (LRRK2 p.G2019S) and common risk factors of the disease (LRRK2 p.R1628P, p.M1646T and p.G2385R). He received the honorable mention for the Moore award in clincopathology research for his work on LRRK2 G2019S with Professor Dennis W. Dickson. Dr. Ross has published over 200 articles in the fields of aging and neurodegeneration and is presently an associate professor of neuroscience at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. He also serves on the editorial board of Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, PLoS ONE and American Journal of Neurodegenerative Disease. His research is supported by several active grants from the National Institutes of Health among other foundations. His primary research interests are in the genetics of neurodegeneration, specifically in Parkinson's disease and related movement disorders.