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“The importance of clinical trials to bring effective treatments to market is critical,” says American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) President and CEO Leslie A. Chambers. “However, many people with Parkinson’s disease lack a basic understanding of clinical trials or why participating in a trial can contribute…

The Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) at Penn State awarded $50,000 to Harriet Nembhard, a professor of industrial engineering and director of the Penn State Center for Integrated Healthcare Delivery Systems, for new research involving the remote treatment and monitoring of people with Parkinson’s disease. Professor Nembhard, who is…

In a recent literature review, researchers from University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis found a link between Parkinson’s disease and melanoma, with possible causes including family history and genetic predisposition. The review was published in the journal Dermatologic Surgery and titled “A Review…

Seven large pharmaceutical companies have joined a groundbreaking consortium to accelerate the development of safe and effective therapies for Parkinson’s disease. The Critical Path for Parkinson’s (CPP) Consortium was launched in October 2015 by founders Critical Path Institute (C-Path) and Parkinson’s UK, with a £1 million commitment.

A new clinical trial for Parkinson’s disease will focus on a drug already approved for the treatment of respiratory conditions that has revealed neuroprotective effects in preclinical studies. The clinical trial is part of the Linked Clinical Trials (LCT) initiative, a program that identifies potential new treatments to slow,…

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers are leading the second arm of a trial, now recruiting participants, that will use gene therapy to assist in the easing of tremors and mobility symptoms in Parkinson’s disease patients. The therapy’s goal is to prolong the efficacy of levodopa, a drug used…

Genetic mutations associated with Parkinson’s disease appear to alter the processes of neuronal death, University College London (UCL) researchers suggest in a study titled “The Parkinson’s disease-linked proteins Fbxo7 and Parkin interact to mediate mitophagy,” published in Nature Neuroscience. Neurons are dependent on the integrity of mitochondria, the energy…

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have developed “mini-brains” that may present a more accurate and effective way of testing new drugs for many neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease. These human cell-derived structures, which represent an existing new alternative to animal testing, were recently discussed in…

Boise State University researchers developed a novel mouse model to assess dopaminergic (DA) neurogenesis in the substantia nigra of adult animals, and suggest that neuron regrowth is possible in adult mammals. Importantly, these neurons’ growth rate indicates that inflammatory responses may inhibit natural neuronal generation, a process that can eventually lead to Parkinson’s disease.

European Union researchers, as a part of the EU-funded BIOMARKERS FOR PD project, have developed a Parkinson’s Disease (PD) biochemical biomarker assay that could lead to early diagnosis of the disease, the development of effective treatments and the successful assessment of pathogenesis and overall physiology of the disease. Aside from the…