Dr. Laura Civiero received her BSc in molecular biology from the University of Padova and, in 2009, her PhD in biotechnology from the University of Verona. In 2010, she moved to the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at the University of Padova as a post-doctoral fellow. In 2014, she was awarded a senior post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Padova to study the role of LRRK2 as a scaffolding (support) protein that organizes components at the synapse (site of communication). She also received an EMBO short-term fellowship to work at the University of Leuven, Belgium, as well as at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, USA. She is currently studying the pathobiology of LRRK2 and Parkinson's disease-linked mutations. Her work is carried out in collaboration with international research groups where she is conducting part of her research.