Maria Grazia Spillantini is Professor of Molecular Neurology at the University of Cambridge. She has made valuable contributions to the molecular genetics and neuropathology of human neurodegenerative disease. Maria Grazia has been instrumental in systematically characterising abnormal intracellular proteins and understanding how they contribute to damage of neurones and glia. Her work has led to many neurodegenerative diseases being classified as alpha-synucleinopathies or tauopathies, reflecting a more precise molecular description of their pathology. These findings are expected to open up many therapeutic opportunities for preventing or disaggregating these lethal protein accumulations.