Susanne Herbst obtained her BS degree in molecular life sciences from the University of Lübeck, Germany, and an MSc degree in immunology of infectious diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which sparked her interest in cell biology. She went on to obtain a PhD from Imperial College, London, where she examined the underlying cellular mechanisms of immunosuppression and fungal disease susceptibility. Dr Herbst then joined the lab of Maximiliano Gutierrez at the Francis Crick Institute, London, where she linked the Parkinson’s Disease-associated protein LRRK2 to cellular immune responses in tuberculosis and elucidated the cellular pathways of LRRK2 activation in response to pathogens and lysosomal stress. She is currently continuing her research of the cell biology of LRRK2 in the lab of Patrick Lewis with the aim to deepening her knowledge of neurodegenerative diseases processes.