After Linan Chen, MD, PhD, received his MD (1994) and PhD (2000) from Shandong Medical University and Beijing University in China, he joined Dr. Xiaoxi Zhuang’s lab in the Department of Neurobiology at The University of Chicago for his postdoctoral training. In 2007, he was promoted to research assistant professor. He has generated several mouse models for Parkinson’s disease, including inducible DA neuron-specific alpha-synuclein and LRRK2 overexpression models, DJ-1 and Pink1 knockout models and DA toxicity model. He has been focusing on characterizing how both genetic defects and dopamine toxicity interact with alpha-synuclein in inducing dopamine neuron degeneration and mitophagy impairments using these models. Chen’s research interest is to identify in vivo mechanisms of dopamine neuron degeneration and translate such findings into novel treatments for Parkinson’s disease. These studies received funding from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the Parkinson's Disease Foundation and the American Parkinson Disease Association.