Research We Funded in 2016-17
George C. Cotzias Fellowship
Named in honor of the scientist who had a critical role in developing Levodopa as a treatment for Parkinson’s, and awarded with the purpose of encouraging young Neurologists to follow in his footsteps. This fellowship is a $240,000 grant awarded over a three year period.
Vivek K. Unni, MD, PhD
Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR
Molecular mechanisms of Lewy body pathology-associated cell death in Parkinson’s disease
Post-Doctoral Fellowships
Awarded to support post-doctoral scientists whose research holds promise to provide new insights into the pathophysiology, etiology and treatment of Parkinson’s disease. This is a fellowship of $35,000 per year for one year.
Hazem Abdelkarim, PhD
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Structural and biophysical characterization of glycosphingolipids as direct cellular modulators of alpha-synuclein aggregation in Parkinson’s disease
Vinita Ganesh Chittoor, PhD
Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR
Effects of dietary amino acids and TOR signaling on Parkinson’s disease pathology
Mahsa Malekmohammadi, PhD
University of California, Los Angeles, CA
Cortical-subcortical motor network hypersynchrony in Parkinson’s disease
Research Grants
Awarded to investigators affiliated with and performing Parkinson’s disease research at major academic institutions across the United States. This is a grant of $50,000 per year for one year, renewable.
Shankar Chinta, PhD
Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA
Pharmacological activation of TFEB using a small molecule promotes autophagic clearance of aggregated alpha-synuclein: Implications for Parkinson’s disease.
Fabio Demontis, PhD
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN
Investigating the common proteomic changes induced by aging and by LRRK2 mutations and their role in Parkinson’s disease.
Hannes Devos, PhD
Kansas University Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
Pupillary Response to Cognitive Workload in Parkinson’s disease
Beom-Chan Lee, PhD
University of Houston, Houston, TX
Validation of smartphone-based sensory augmentation technology for home-based balance training of people with Parkinson’s disease.
Ian Martin, PhD
Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR
Identifying pathogenic targets of G2019S LRRK2 in dopamine neurons
Coro Paisan-Ruiz, PhD
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
Elucidating novel genetic mechanisms underlying autosomal recessive Parkinson’s disease
Matthew LaVoie, PhD
The Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA
The role of astrocytes in GCase-mediated alpha-synuclein metabolism
Summer Student Fellowships
Offer undergraduate and medical students $4,000 each in funding for Parkinson’s research projects to be conducted over a ten-week period over the summer. The 2016 funding is a collaboration between The American Parkinson Disease Association and the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation® (PDF®) to support research that will help solve, treat and end Parkinson’s disease.
Preston Ge
Mentor: Ted Dawson, MD, PhD
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Identifying Elements of the Transcriptional Regulatory Network of PARIS (ZNF746) Involved in Alpha-synuclein-Induced Neurodegeneration
Dima Hage
Mentor: David Park, PhD
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
The Interaction of Parkinson’s Disease Gene FBXO7 with Bag2
Kiana Khosravian
Mentor: Malú Tansey, PhD
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
DBH-ASYN Mouse Model, Effect of Inflammation in Gastrointestinal System
Sydney Lee
Mentor: Edward Fon, MD
McGill University, Montreal, Canada
The Role of the ESCRT Complex in a Vesicular Trafficking Pathway from Mitochondria to Lysosomes
Stuart McCarter
Mentor: Erik St. Louis, MD
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
REM Sleep Without Atonia Signatures Help Distinguish Between Synucleinopathy Disorders
Rachel Mikofsky
Mentor: David Sulzer, PhD
Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
In Vivo Optical Measurement of Direct and Indirect Path Projection Neuron Activity in a Parkinson’s Disease Rodent Model with Treatment of L-DOPA and Cannabinoid Antagonists
Emily Ong
Mentor: Shubhik DebBurman, PhD
Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL
Relevance of Amino Acid Charge/Polarity in New Familial Mutants of Alpha-synuclein
Henry Resnikoff
Mentor: Marina Emborg. MD, PhD
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Impact of Inflammation on Alpha-synuclein Expression in the Colonic Enteric Nervous System
Maya Silver
Mentor: Brad Racette, MD
Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Association Between Water Source and Incidental Parkinson’s Disease
Samuel Stanley
Mentor: Kim Caldwell, PhD
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
Investigation of Dopamine Neuron Degeneration as a Consequence of Microbiome-Derived Bacteria
Adina Wise
Mentor: Roy Alcalay, MD, MS
Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
Parkinson’s Disease Penetrance in Obligate Carriers of SMPD1 Mutations
Kali Xu
Mentor: Kathleen Poston, MD, MS
Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CT
High Angular Resolution Diffusion Imaging Correlates of Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s
In the News
APDA Awards $1.6 Million in Research Grants. Prestigious Cotzias Fellowship Awarded.
Click here to read the Press Release