Matthew Havrda, PhD, is a biologist characterizing the molecular basis of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and its various pathologic manifestations. He received his doctorate in 2006 from the Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering of the University of Maine, conducting research at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute. Dr. Havrda is an assistant professor in molecular and systems biology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, working within the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Dr. Havrda has published numerous research papers and is the recipient of academic and early investigator awards. His efforts to characterize interactions between environmental toxicants and the inflammasomes in PD is supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. His recent studies track inflammasome signatures at early stages of PD in at-risk military veterans. Dr. Havrda’s work provides a new approach to understanding, monitoring and therapeutically targeting inflammation in PD.