Rubén Fernández-Santiago holds a degree in Biology from the University of Oviedo and completed a PhD in Neurosciences at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen (Germany) on the genetics of neurodegenerative diseases. He has received support from several competitive public programmes, including Miguel Servet, Jóvenes Investigadores, Juan de la Cierva, and Marie Skłodowska-Curie. Funded by national and international organisations such as the Michael J. Fox Foundation, his research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease and molecular biomarkers of disease progression.
Yaroslau Compta Hirnyj holds a medical degree and a PhD in Medicine from the University of Barcelona and is a Neurology consultant at Hospital Clínic. He has published 215 scientific articles between 2006 and 2025. He introduced the alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in Spain, and his research focuses on CSF biomarkers, genetics, molecular imaging, and cellular models in Parkinson’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, and multiple system atrophy. He is an associate editor of Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, coordinator of the CSUR/ERN for rare movement disorders and of the MDS PSP Study Group, and director of the Centre of Excellence for MissionMSA and CurePSP.
