Dr. Wolfdieter Springer is a Consultant and Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. His main research focus is on the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying aging and age-related neurodegenerative disorders. He received his MSc from the University of Regensburg and his PhD from the Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich, Germany. His postdoctoral training at the Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research in Tuebingen, Germany, led to the seminal discovery of the PINK1-PRKN pathway that orchestrates the selective degradation of damaged mitochondria via the autophagy-lysosome system (mitophagy). Dr. Springer’s laboratory at Mayo Clinic continues to study this ubiquitin kinase-ligase pair on a structural, cellular, and organismal level with a focus on relevance of mitochondrial autophagy in health, aging, and disease. Current efforts aim at dissecting the genetic architecture and regulation of mitophagy and the development of biomarkers and future therapeutics for diseases where mitochondrial, autophagic, or lysosomal dysfunctions emerge as a common theme. Dr. Springer’s research is funded by multiple sources including grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, The Ted Nash Long Life Foundation, and others.

For more information please see:
https://www.mayo.edu/research/labs/translational-cell-biology-parkinsons-disease/overview