The primary focus of his lab is to examine the underlying molecular mechanisms that drive the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), the two most common forms of age-related neurodegeneration. His lab uses stem cells, including patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), to study the role of neural and immune cell populations in these disorders. They also generate and use transgenic mouse models of AD and PD to test potential therapies and examine the relationships between peripheral and central immunity and their influence on disease progression. Among their current studies, they are using iPSCs to generate human microglia and understand the effects of disease-associated genetic risk factors on microglial function and AD pathology.