Michael Beckstead

Dr. Michael Beckstead is a researcher at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. His work focuses on neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Parkinson's disease, using the MitoPark mouse model to study age-dependent changes in dopamine neurons.

• Key research areas: Neuroscience, Electrophysiology, Neurodegenerative Disease Modeling

In 2016, his team published findings in The Journal of Neuroscience about progressive electrophysiological decline in Parkinson's disease models, emphasizing early detection opportunities. Graduate student Sarah Branch contributed to this research as part of her thesis work.

His studies aim to bridge the gap in understanding early-stage Parkinson’s disease mechanisms, potentially enabling preemptive treatments before irreversible neuronal damage occurs.