Jessika Suescun, MD, is a senior research scientist in the department of neurology at UTHealth Houston McGovern Medical School. Dr. Suescun's initial basic science work included studying oxidative stress a variety of models. Since 2014, Dr. Suescun has co-developed and executed multiple observational and interventional clinical trials focusing on parkinsonism and REM sleep behavioral disorder as a prodromal condition. Her research includes investigating disease pathogenesis with an emphasis on the chronic neuroinflammatory process, gut-brain microbiome axis, and alpha-synuclein oligomers; identifying biomarkers for disease state and rate of progression, including peripheral inflammatory molecules, neuroimaging (fMRI and DTI) and device interaction; studying and developing new therapies. As a result of her work, she has published three book chapters and fourteen peer-reviewed original articles.