Dr. Robert Drolet obtained his PhD in neuroscience from Michigan State University, where he identified compensatory mechanisms and a role for alpha-synuclein in dopamine-producing neurons in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). He completed postdoctoral training in neuroscience at the Pittsburgh Institute for Neurological Disorders and is currently a principal scientist in the neuroscience department at Merck Research Laboratories. In his ten years at Merck, he has led a preclinical drug discovery programs in PD and other neurodegenerative disorders, shepherding compounds through various phases of the pipeline. His research focuses primarily on imaging-based biomarkers in neurodegenerative disease and cellular mechanisms responsible for clearing toxic protein aggregations. Ongoing research in his lab seeks to identify ways to monitor alpha-synuclein as a biomarker for PD progression, and to develop methods to inhibit its accumulation as a therapeutic approach for PD.