Late onset Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a very common neurodegenerative disease affecting millions of people and it is over-represented in the U.S. Veteran population. It is an incurable, debilitating and progressive disease most commonly characterized by tremors, stiffness, rigidity, and imbalance. PD is caused by the progressive loss of dopamine producing neurons located deep in the brain but why these neurons die in the first place remains incompletely understood. Over the past decade several predisposing risk factors have been identified (e.g. mutations, toxin exposures, and traumatic brain injury). Research conducted at VBRI, aims to determine the mechanism of PD than can be exploited to develop diagnostic tools, treatments, and preventative strategies for our Veterans.