Feinberg
Northwestern Medicine | Northwestern University | Faculty Profiles

News Center

  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Releases
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Menu
  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Releases
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Home » $2.1 Million Grant Funds Parkinson’s Research
Uncategorized

$2.1 Million Grant Funds Parkinson’s Research

By medwebOct 1, 2004
Share
Facebook Twitter Email

October 19, 2004

$2.1 Million Grant Funds Parkinson’s Research

CHICAGO—Northwestern University has received a three-year, $2.1 million award from the Picower Foundation to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease.

D. James Surmeier, PhD, Nathan Smith Davis Professor and chair of physiology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, is the principal investigator on the grant.

Enrico Mugnaini, MD, Edgar C. Stuntz Professor and director of the Northwestern University Institute for Neuroscience, and Mark D. Bevan, PhD, associate professor of physiology at the Feinberg School, are also participating in the research effort.

Parkinson’s disease is a common neurodegenerative disorder associated with aging. Symptoms include tremor, slowness of movement, rigidity, and postural instability, which result from degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons.

The Picower Foundation grant will fund research aimed at understanding why dopamine neurons die and how the brain adapts to the death of these neurons, in the hope that understanding these processes will lead to new treatments for Parkinson’s disease.

The studies will take advantage of Northwestern’s broad expertise in neuroscience and molecular imaging to determine how living neurons adapt to conditions contributing to the emergence of symptoms in Parkinson’s disease.

This effort complements that created by the establishment of a Morris K. Udall Parkinson’s Disease Research Center of Excellence by the National Institutes of Health at Northwestern University last year. Dr. Surmeier is also director of the Udall Center.

Currently, treatment options are limited for patients with Parkinson’s disease. The most widely used treatment for Parkinson’s disease, levodopa therapy, is aimed at restoring dopamine levels by enhancing release of the neurotransmitter from surviving dopaminergic neurons. Although initially effective in many patients with Parkinson’s disease, the benefits of levodopa therapy are relatively short-lived and are accompanied by unwanted motor side effects.

Deep-brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus has provided relief of some motor symptoms in late-stage patients experiencing limited benefits from levodopa treatment, but it fails to alleviate many key symptoms.

Share. Facebook Twitter Email

Related Posts

Mar 29, 2023

Adolescent Sexual Health Program Receives Funding for Social Marketing Campaign

Mar 29, 2023

Lurie Cancer Center Receives Merit Extension from NCI

Oct 20, 2021

Drug Combination May Reduce Risk of Leukemia Relapse

Mar 26, 2020

Comments are closed.

Latest News

Coaxing Hair Growth in Aging Hair Follicle Stem Cells

Jun 9, 2023

New Therapeutic Target for Osteoarthritis Identified 

Jun 9, 2023

Largest Cell Map of Human Lung Reveals Insights Into Disease

Jun 8, 2023

McNally Honored with Walder Award

Jun 8, 2023

Biological Aging Increases Risk of Depression, Anxiety in Adults 

Jun 7, 2023
  • News Center Home
  • Categories
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Editor’s Picks
  • News Archives
  • About Us
Flickr Photos
ANB05555
ANB08990
ANB09022
ANB09063
ANB09008
ANB08781
ANB08971
ANB09000
ANB08992
ANB09015
ANB09058
ANB09048

Northwestern University logo

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

RSS Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flickr YouTube Instagram
Copyright © 2023 Northwestern University
  • Contact Northwestern University
  • Disclaimer
  • Campus Emergency Information
  • Policy Statements

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.