Three Boston Medical Institutions Receive Parkinson's Disease Research Grants

PRINCETON, NJ, August 15, 2000 – Three Boston medical institutions were
each awarded a $35,000 pilot study grant for Parkinson's disease research,
the Parkinson Alliance has announced.

The three grants, which are for one year, were awarded to:

Seung-Jae Lee, Ph.D., at the Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham &
Women's Hospital, for the research project "Role of Alpha-Synuclein in
Synaptic Transmission."

David W. Miller, Ph.D., at Massachusetts General Hospital, for his research
project, "Human Brain
Expression of Alpha-Synuclein Messenger RNA in Parkinson's Disease and
Related Diseases."

Jean-Jacques Soghomonian, Ph.D., at Boston University School of Medicine,
for the research project, "Effects of Intermittent vs. Continuous L-DOPA on
GABAergic Neurons of the Basal Ganglia."

The grants were among 18 projects selected competitively from a field of
more than 70 applications by an awards committee of scientists assembled in
New York City by the Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF).

The researchers will use the grants to compile the preliminary research
data needed to apply for federal esearch funding available from the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), according to the Princeton-based
Parkinson Alliance, an organization that raises matching funds for pilot
study ventures like the programs at Brigham & Women's, Massachusetts
General, and Boston University School of Medicine.

For the PDF's program alone, the Parkinson Alliance has leveraged $125,000
in private donations into $630,000 for pilot study programs to be awarded
by the Foundation to 18 national and international pilot research projects.

The aim is to support pilot studies that may later lead to larger and
longer-term commitments from the NIH.

Pilot study program grants are made on the basis of scientific merit, as
determined by the Scientific Advisory Boards of national Parkinson
organizations, which provide the expertise to judge the research projects.

Typical grants are awarded in the $25,000 to $35,000 range, sufficient
funds to compile the pilot data that must accompany all NIH grant
applications.

The NIH has proposed a five-year Parkinson’s research agenda to Congress,
of nearly $1 billion in new funding, for a cure of the progressive
neurological disorder within five years.

The goal of the Princeton-based Alliance is a cure in five years of the
progressive, debilitating disease that affects more than 1 million
Americans, with 60,000 new cases diagnosed every year – one every nine
minutes – 40 percent of which are under the age of 60.

The researchers are required to provide interim progress reports to ensure
accountability.

Dr. Fischbach of NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and
Stroke, praised the Parkinson Alliance's innovative fundraising system that
enables research projects to compete more effectively for larger NIH grants.

Dr. Fischbach said the Alliance's pilot study grant program, "which
attracts new investigators to the field, is
 one of the most effective activities to which the private sector can
devote resources."

At Brigham & Women's Hospital, Dr. Lee will study the function of the
alpha-synuclein protein in order to gain insight into the properties of the
neuronal system.

Dr. Miller, of Massachusetts General Hospital, hopes to determine the
exactitude of a direct or indirect role for the presynaptic protein and
discover whether or not it plays a role in the selective vulnerability of
DA neurons in neurodegenerative disorders.

At Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Soghomonian will investigate
the effects of long-term intermittent versus continuous administrations of
Sinemet in an attempt to better understand how each method affects other
neurotransmitter systems.

Parkinson's disease is characterized by a gradual loss of effective
movement, caused by the degeneration of a specific group of nerve cells, or
neurons, in the brain. These neurons utilize dopamine as their
neurotransmitter -- a chemical released to transmit nerve impulses between
neurons.

In the absence of dopamine, the brain is unable to correctly process
information related to movement, resulting in the hallmark symptoms of
Parkinson's Disease: tremor, slowness of movement, stooped posture, and
rigidity.
The cause of Parkinson's is unknown, but, according to medical experts,
halting the progression of the disease, restoring lost function and even
preventing the disease are all realistic scientific goals.

These hopes are fueled by the accelerated pace of discovery in neuroscience
research, by advances in understanding what causes Parkinson's, and by a
wide variety of new treatments on the horizon, including stem cell
transplants, precision surgical repair, brain stimulation and neural growth
factors, to name a few.

The Princeton, NJ-based Parkinson Alliance is a national organization
dedicated to raising funds to help finance the most scientifically valid
research into Parkinson’s disease.

Its ultimate goal is to help find a cure of the progressive, debilitating
neurological disease in five years.
The Alliance, which sponsors fundraising events and activities throughout
the year, leverages every $1 in donations into $2 for research.

Parkinson's affects more than 1 million Americans, with 60,000 new cases
diagnosed every year – one every nine minutes – 40 percent of which are
under the age of 60.

http://www.parkinsonalliance.net/html/news_bosu.html#bos_t_Anchor

janet paterson
53 now / 44 dx cd / 43 onset cd / 41 dx pd / 37 onset pd
TEL: 613 256 8340 URL: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/
EMAIL: [log in to unmask] SMAIL: PO Box 171 Almonte Ontario K0A 1A0 Canada