Suneil Kalia

Biography

Suneil Kalia MD, PhD, FRCSC Assistant Professor Contact information Division of Neurosurgery Toronto Western Hospital 399 Bathurst St., Rm 4-428 West Wing Toronto Ontario M5T 2S8 Phone: 416-603-5866 Fax: 416-603-5298 Email: suneil.kalia@utoronto.ca             Suneil Kalia MD, PhD, FRCSC Assistant Professor Contact information Division of Neurosurgery Toronto Western Hospital 399 Bathurst St., Rm 4-428 West Wing Toronto Ontario M5T 2S8 Phone: 416-603-5866 Fax: 416-603-5298 Email: suneil.kalia@utoronto.ca            

Research Interest

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a disabling movement disorder that affects between 1-3% of the Canadian population over the age of 65. Poor handling and elimination of misfolded proteins has been identified as central in the molecular pathogenesis of PD. A special class of proteins within the cell called “chaperones” is responsible for refolding misfolded or damaged proteins. If the chaperone system cannot adequately deal with these misfolded proteins, they are targeted to specialized disposal systems in the cell including the ubiquitin-proteasome system and the autophagy-lysosomal system. Together these pathways are critical to maintain protein quality control within a cell. If they are dysfunctional or overwhelmed then neurodegeneration ensues.