The main focus of our research is to study the role of autophagy in neurodegeneration. Alterations in the autophagy process have been associated with neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s disease and has been shown to be one of the main causes that contribute to neuronal death in these pathologies. Our efforts are currently directed to:

• Study the role of the autophagic and lysosomal dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease
• Development of new therapies for Parkinson’s disease based in the restoration of lysosomal glucocerebrosidase (GBA) activity.
• Characterize the defective lysosomal-mediated turnover of mitocondria and aggregates in Huntington’s disease and its contribution to neurodegeneration.