Peter Heutink, PhD, led the teams that identified mutations in genes causing Parkinson's disease (DJ-1), frontotemporal dementia (MAPT), chorea, ataxia, hemochromatosis, porencephaly and developmental disorders including intellectual disability. He has made important contributions to genome-wide association studies -- studies that identify genetic causes of disease by analyzing genetic information from many individuals -- for major depression, Tourette's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorders, frontotemporal dementia and Parkinson's disease. Dr. Heutink is one of the leaders of the International Parkinson's Disease Genomics Consortium (IPDGC) and the speaker of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Tubingen. In his research, he studies genomes -- complete sets of genetic information -- to better understand neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Heutink is a core member of the FANTOM project, which aims to improve the understanding of the function of individual human genes. FANTOM investigators published several landmark papers essential to the understanding of the biology underlying the growing number of known genetic risk factors for human diseases. His group has developed powerful automated methods of studying large numbers of genetic variations and their effects in the cell.