Dr. Gallardo received his Ph.D. in 2008 from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas in the laboratory of Dr. Thomas C. Südhof (now at Stanford University Medical School) where his thesis focused on studying α-synuclein, a presynaptic protein that had been implicated in Parkinson’s disease. His major studies demonstrated α-synuclein-induced neurodegeneration involves central pathological mechanisms implicated in Alzheimer’s disease signifying parallels in the pathogenesis of these degenerative diseases. Upon completion of his graduate thesis, he performed post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School where he discovered a complex composed of the ion pump α2-Na/K ATPase and the protein α-Adducin in astrocytes is upregulated in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). An in-depth biochemical and molecular characterization revealed the chronic activation of the α2-Na/K ATPase/α-Adducin complex mediates the non-cell autonomous neurodegeneration in cell culture and mouse models of ALS. He joined the laboratory of Dr. David M. Holtzman as a Senior Research Scientist at Washington University School Medicine in St. Louis in 2014 and was appointed to the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Neurology in 2017. His laboratory focuses on understanding astrocytes and their cellular mechanisms of neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease. Reactive astrocytes are well-known features of AD that are associated with disease manifestation, pathology, and brain atrophy. However, despite a compelling association with AD and reactive astrocytes, their impact on disease pathogenesis and their therapeutic potential remains largely unknown.