Dr. Edward Fon is a neurologist and scientist who serves as the Director of the McGill Parkinson Program, a National Parkinson Foundation Centre of Excellence. His research focuses on the molecular events leading to the degeneration of dopamine neurons in Parkinson's disease. In the past decade, several genes have been identified that cause some forms of the disease. He is particularly interested in how these genes come together and interact to cause Parkinson's disease. His work focuses on one of these genes, Parkin, which functions as a key enzyme in the main protein degradation pathway in the cell. This pathway utilizes ubiquitin, a protein that can mark target proteins for degradation. Dr. Fon’s laboratory works on understanding the various functions of ubiquitin in the nervous system and on how defects in parkin could lead to Parkinson’s disease. This work could provide important clues about the mechanisms of dopamine neuron death in Parkinson’s disease and potentially lead to innovative new therapeutic strategies.

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E-mail: Edward A. Fon
Website: Fon Lab