In neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease brain cells get sick and slowly die. My works has found that if you prevent brain cells from making a small, nuclear protein called Akirin2, the cells similarly get sick and slowly die. By investigating this protein's function in neurons, this research aims to reveal what brain cells need to maintain normal, healthy function and what might go wrong that leads to neurodegenerative diseases.