Investigator:
Melissa Nirenberg, MD, PhD
Name of Institution:
Bronx Veterans Medical Research Foundation, Inc
Project Title:
Parkinson’s disease phenotype in Black and Hispanic veterans
Investigator Bio:
Dr. Melissa J. Nirenberg is a Professor of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Co-Director of the VA Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Center (PADRECC) Associated Site at the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Clinical Co-Director of the Neuropathology Brain Bank at Mount Sinai. Her clinical and research interests include non-motor features of Parkinson’s disease (PD); behavioral complications of dopaminergic therapy; clinical and neuropathological features of PD related to traumatic brain injury (TBI); and the care of racially and ethnically diverse veterans with PD and other movement disorders.
Dr. Nirenberg pursued her undergraduate education at Yale University, graduating magna cum laude with distinction in English. She was subsequently awarded a PhD in Neuroscience from Weill Cornell. She earned her medical degree from Weill Cornell, where she received awards for the highest achievement in the graduating class in both Medicine and Pediatrics. After medical school, Dr. Nirenberg completed a residency in Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, followed by a fellowship in Movement Disorders at Columbia University. In her prior faculty positions at Weill Cornell and NYU, she held academic leadership positions, including Associate Director of the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program at Weill Cornell and Associate Program Director of the NYU Neurology Residency program. In addition to the current APDA diversity grant, Dr. Nirenberg has been awarded a VA Merit grant to study TBI and parkinsonism. She is also the site Principal Investigator (PI) for the Veterans Parkinson’s Disease Genetics Initiative (Vet-PD) study, providing samples and data from racially and ethnically diverse patients for inclusion in the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Project.
Objective:
To identify the clinical features of PD in Black and Hispanic veterans.
Background:
Very little is known about PD in Black and Hispanic populations, as most PD research has been conducted in people of White, European ancestry. .
Methods/Design:
Participants will be recruited from the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs (VA) Movement Disorders Clinic, which has a racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse patient population. Data will be collected about the subjects’ demographic features (including racial and ethnic background), medical history, medication use, family history, exposure to toxins, military history, and social determinants of health. Detailed assessments will be performed to characterize PD symptoms, including motor movement symptoms, non-motor symptoms (such as cognitive problems, depression, and low blood pressure with standing), and responses to PD medications. Using statistical analysis, we will look at clinical factors associated with PD in Black and Hispanic patients versus White, non-Hispanic veterans.
Relevance to Diagnosis/Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease:
Determining the clinical features of PD in Black and Hispanic people will enable us to diagnose PD in its earliest stages, optimize treatments, and identify targeted therapies for people in these underrepresented groups.