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FROM: The Associated Press State & Local Wire April 3, 2002, Wednesday, BC cycle 3:21 AM Eastern Time HEADLINE: Parkinson's research wins $1.6 million grant DATELINE: SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. A $1.6 million grant from the state will create the Arizona Parkinson's Disease Center and fund three new laboratory projects on brain tissue of Parkinson's victims. The Arizona Disease Control Research Commission, which is funded through tobacco taxes and settlements, on Monday announced the grant to create the center - a consortium of the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, Arizona State University, Barrow Neurological Institute and Sun Health Research Institute. The money will allow the four groups to streamline research into the cause and identification of Parkinson's disease and will recruit more people for clinical trials. The researchers currently follow 600 subjects. Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects as many as 2 million people in the United States. It is characterized by tremor, rigidity or stiffness, and slowness of movement. "By understanding the cause and by identifying people in the early stages of the disease, we're hoping to find treatments either to slow the progress, or stop development of the disease all together," said Dr. Charles Adler, professor of neurology at the Mayo Medical School and chairman of the Division of Movement Disorders at the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale. "Without these funds, we would not be able to fund these studies." The project studies people from the onset of symptoms until their death. The Arizona Parkinson's Disease Center's plan was chosen from six grant proposals, said Dawn Schroeder, Arizona Disease Control Research Commission executive director. The Legislature requested that the commission fund Parkinson's disease research, mainly because of the state's large number of senior citizens, a group disproportionately affected by the illness, Schroeder said. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn