Albert LSpada, MD, PhD is Distinguished Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Neurology at UC Irvine School of Medicine. He is also the founder and director of the UCI Institute for Neurotherapeutics. He also serves as the Associate Dean for Research Development at the UC Irvine School of Medicine.
Dr. LaSpada's research is focused upon neurodegenerative disease. His lab is seeking the molecular events that underlie neurodegeneration and neuron cell death in spinocerebellar ataxia type 7, spinal & bulbar muscular atrophy, Huntington’s Disease, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer's disease. 
Dr. LaSpada's team has uncovered evidence for transcription dysregulation, perturbed bioenergetics, and altered protein quality control as contributing factors to neuron dysfunction. By reproducing molecular pathology in mice and in neurons, astrocytes, microglia, and skeletal muscle cells derived from human patient stem cells, they have begun to develop therapies to treat these disorders.