Robert Silva, PhD has been a Micael J. Fox Foundation Fellow in Parkinson's Research at Columbia University since 2002. Dr. Silva's work, under the direction of Robert E. Burke, MD, has focused on the neurobiology of disease with particular emphasis on Parkinson's disease. Dr. Silva is studying programmed cell death of dopamine neurons, focusing on the role of the c-jun kinase (JNK) signaling pathway. His work examines the sensitivity of animals with targeted gene deletions of JNK to neurotoxin-induced programmed cell death. Dr. Silva received a bachelor's degree from Boston University and a doctorate from the City University of New York. He was also awarded a City University of New York Science Fellowship.