Dr. Chao is an associate clinician scientist at Singapore National Neuroscience Institute (NNI). She is also an assistant professor at Duke-NUS Medical School and in charge of the Immunology in Body & Disease Course. She is currently the principal investigator of the neuroimmunology study in Parkinson’s disease funded by Neuromodulation Research Center (Transition Award, TA).  Her primary research interest is the involvement of the peripheral immune system, specifically monocytes, in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. She is also interested in autoimmunity screening in Parkinson’s patients, which has obtained interesting and promising results. Dr. Chao is also exploring the role of alpha-synuclein oligomerization in the development of Parkinson’s. The ultimate goal of Dr. Chao’s research is to identify therapeutic targets and to develop novel immunotherapy for neurodegenerative disorders. Currently she is working with Dr. Tan Eng-King from NNI; and Drs. Wong Siew Cheng, Olaf Rötzschke and Bernett Lee from Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN, A-STAR).