Anne GRÜNEWALD

Anne GRÜNEWALD is a Full Professor and Chief Scientist at the University of Luxembourg's Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), leading the Molecular and Functional Neurobiology department. Her research focuses on understanding Parkinson's disease mechanisms, particularly mitochondrial dysfunction, neuroinflammation, and environmental-genetic interactions. She directs the Grünewald Lab, pioneering work in iPSC-derived models and organoids to study disease progression.

Her work integrates systems biology approaches with clinical data, emphasizing translational research. Key projects include the Luxembourg Parkinson’s study, examining disease heterogeneity and biomarkers, and investigating modifiers of LRRK2-associated penetrance through exposomics and metagenomics. She also explores machine learning applications for predicting motor complications and disease subtypes.

Research interests span mitochondrial dynamics, neurodegeneration-inflammation feedback loops, and cross-talk between astrocytes/neurons. Her lab develops novel tools for high-throughput drug screening in Parkinson's models and investigates epigenetic influences on disease onset. Collaborations include international cohorts for deep phenotyping and genomic analysis.

Notable contributions include identifying mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy as a disease biomarker, demonstrating environmental modifiers' role in Parkinson's, and advancing 3D organoid models for patient-specific research. Ongoing projects focus on mitochondrial polygenic risk scores, lifestyle interactions, and neuroinflammatory pathways.

Lab activities include generating patient-derived cell lines, analyzing single-cell transcriptomics, and developing biomarker assays. Future work aims to bridge basic research with clinical trials targeting mitochondrial dysfunction and neuroprotection.