The group has a longstanding experience in the characterization of PD-associated genetic variants in different in vitro and _in vivo _models. We have previously shown that patient-derived fibroblasts reveal relevant disease associated features, as impaired mitochondrial respiration, increased intra-mitochondrial reactive oxygen species, reduced basal autophagy or accumulation of defective mitochondria. In order to study the effect of disease-associated genetic defects in neurons, we use patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that are propagated into small molecule neuronal precursor cells (smNPC) and subsequently differentiated into midbrain-specific dopaminergic (mDA) neurons. Cellular phenotypes can then be used as readouts for library screens to detect compounds that rescue PD phenotypes. In this context, a full automation of the cell culture, including high-content imaging, to perform high-throughput screening has been established in our lab.