Autophagy is an essential cellular process required for cellular homeostasis and adaptation to stress. Autophagy malfunction is a common mechanism in the pathogenesis of multiple human diseases including neurodegenerative conditions. The autophagy field has now matured to support expanding initiatives aimed at targeting autophagy with therapeutic purpose.  This Keystone Symposia meeting will highlight this field’s evolution from an exclusively molecular cell biological focus to one that now also addresses expanding biological functions and etiological roles in specific neurodegenerative disease states. The program will also offer initial glimpses of promising clinical translation originating from surging industry interest in autophagy modulation as therapy in the field of neurodegeneration. Particularly innovative is our goal of capturing this bench to bedside scope of autophagy research by featuring new findings from a multidisciplinary panel of academic and industry speakers and a combination of conceptual themes spanning from basic biology of neuronal and glial autophagy to translational medicine and therapeutics.  Appreciation of the brain’s special vulnerabilities to autophagy dysfunction has grown and promising therapeutic responses to autophagy modulation in major neurodegenerative disorders are emerging from preclinical studies.