Dr. La Spada’s research is focused upon neurodegenerative disease and neurotherapeutics, and he is seeking the molecular events that underlie neurodegeneration and neuron cell death in spinal & bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA), spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7), Huntington’s Disease, ALS, and Parkinson’s disease. He and his team have uncovered evidence for transcription dysregulation, perturbed bioenergetics, and altered protein quality control as contributing factors to neuron dysfunction. His research is also focused upon cell-cell communication between neurons and non-neural cells, emphasizing the role of astrocytes and microglia in disease pathogenesis and progression in CNS disease, and the contribution of skeletal muscle in motor neuron diseases. By reproducing molecular pathology in mice and in neurons and other cell types derived from human patient stem cells, Dr. La Spada has begun to develop therapies to treat these disorders intended to boost the function of pathways of CNS homeostasis that decline with aging.