Prof. Klockgether studied medicine at the University of Göttingen and during this time also carried out research at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine. After graduating, he went to Oldenburg for clinical training and then returned to the Max Planck Institute to work in basic research on Parkinson’s disease. He completed his neurology training in Tübingen, where he also began to focus on degenerative ataxias, in addition to pursuing research on Parkinson’s disease. In 1998, he was appointed as Professor and Chair of Neurology at the University of Bonn. Prof. Klockgether has been the Dean of the Medical Faculty of the University of Bonn from 2008 to 2011. Since February 2010 he has been Speaker of the Center for Rare Diseases Bonn (ZSEB) and since May 2011 Director of Clinical Research at the DZNE.