Dr. Urmas Arumäe graduated from Tartu University, Estonia in 1980 as a cell biologist. He obtained his PhD from the Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics, Estonian Academy of Sciences, Tallinn, Estonia and defended the thesis in molecular biology at Tartu University, Estonia, in 1987. From 1990 he worked at the Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki as a Senior Research Scientist. From 2006-2011 he was a research fellow at the Academy of Finland. Currently, he is a senior scientist at the Institute of Biotechnology, in the group of Prof. Mart Saarma. His main research interests are the death and survival pathways in primary neurons and their regulation by neurotrophic factors. He has described novel death pathways activated in the neurons by deprivation of Glial Cell line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF). He has also described strictly neuron-specific changes in the repertoire of Bcl-2 family members (absence of Bak and presence of N-Bak). Currently he is mainly studying the neuroprotective mechanisms of novel neurotrophic factors Mesencephalic Astrocyte-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (MANF) and Cerebral Dopamine Neurotrophic Factor (CDNF), currently two of the most potent factors in pre-clinical models of Parkinson’s disease. His studies are aimed at understanding how these factors prevent neuronal apoptosis, what are their receptors and/or cellular entering pathways, and how these mechanisms could be used in the development of treatment for Parkinson’s disease.