About Us

Scientific Director, Chief Operating Officer, and Founder of the Parkinson's Institute in Sunnyvale, California

Dr. J. William Langston is the Scientific Director, Chief Operating Officer, and Founder of the Parkinson's Institute in Sunnyvale, California. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Medicine, he served as a faculty member at Stanford University and Chairman of Neurology at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California before founding the Parkinson’s Institute. He is internationally recognized for the discovery of the link between a chemical known as MPTP and parkinsonism, which has provided a new tool to study Parkinson’s disease and which also stimulated great interest in the possibility that environmental factors may play a role in causing the disease. His current research interests include the study of mechanisms of neuronal degeneration, the etiology of Parkinson’s disease, and the development of new strategies to slow or halt disease progression. Dr. Langston published 300 papers on Parkinson’s disease and related disorders and has received many awards for his work, the most recent of which was the Movement Disorders Research Award from the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Langston serves on numerous editorial boards and advisory committees, and is also on the Executive Committee Scientific Advisory Board for Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease Research. He is also a devoted father, soccer coach, and skier.