Lalitha Madhavan, MD, PhD, is an associate professor of neurology at the University of Arizona. Her work focuses on stem cell biology and age-related neurodegenerative disorders, especially Parkinson’s disease. She has significant expertise with a variety of stem cells and models of neurodegeneration, which she has applied to understanding Parkinson's pathogenesis and developing novel therapeutics. Her laboratory is using cutting-edge stem cell technologies to advance knowledge on the fundamental biology of aging and neurodegeneration in the context of Parkinson's. Within this framework, she has discovered a major mechanism controlling the activity of brain stem cells during aging. Her lab has also established powerful systems, involving human patient-derived fibroblasts and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), for advancing Parkinson's diagnostics and therapeutics.

After obtaining a medical degree from Baroda Medical College in India, Dr. Madhavan completed a doctorate in neuroscience at Iowa State University. Subsequently, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the NIH Udall Center for Excellence in Parkinson’s Disease Research at the University of Cincinnati, where she focused on stem cell induced neuroprotection in Parkinson’s disease models.