All Posts: Parkinson's disease
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Vascular Defects Appear to Underlie the Progression of Parkinson’s Disease
WASHINGTON (Friday, November 12, 2021) — In an unexpected discovery, Georgetown University Medical Center researchers have identified what appears to be a significant vascular defect in patients with moderately severe Parkinson’s disease. The finding could help explain an earlier outcome of the same study, in which the drug nilotinib was able to halt motor and […]
Category: News Release
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Nilotinib Appears Safe in Parkinson’s Trial; Drug Thought to Allow Dopamine Replenishment
WASHINGTON (December 16, 2019) — A clinical trial investigating the repurposed cancer drug nilotinib in people with Parkinson’s disease finds that it is reasonably safe and well tolerated. Researchers also report finding an increase in dopamine, the chemical lost as a result of neuronal destruction, and a decrease in neurotoxic proteins in the brain among […]
Category: News Release
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Novel Agent Flips on ‘Garbage Disposal’ in Neurons, Eliminating Toxic Brain Proteins in Mice
CHICAGO (October 22, 2019) — Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center say they have developed and tested an agent that reduces the buildup of toxic proteins in animal models of both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, and improves cognitive and motor behavior. The team presented their findings about the agent, CM101 (also known as BK40143), in […]
Category: News Release
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Shedding Light on Lewy Body Disease
(May 30, 2019) — Though many people are familiar with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, fewer have heard of Lewy body dementia, a neurodegenerative disorder with similar symptoms. “I think more awareness needs to be out there because Lewy body disease is probably just as prevalent as Parkinson’s,” said Fernando Pagan, MD (M’96), professor of neurology […]
Category: GUMC Stories
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Impacted by Parkinson’s Disease, Three Couples Plan to Leave a Lasting Legacy to Support Research
(April 26, 2019) — When someone is diagnosed with an incurable, life-changing disease like Parkinson’s, they usually have many questions about how it will affect their life and what can be done to manage it. Unfortunately, many people who have Parkinson’s symptoms don’t get those answers until they are fortunate enough to see a doctor […]
Category: GUMC Stories
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Researchers Decode How Cancer Drug Works in Brains of Parkinson’s Disease Patients
MEDIA CONTACT:Karen Teberkm463@georgetown.edu WASHINGTON (March 12, 2019) — Laboratory analysis from the first arm of a phase II clinical trial testing the use of nilotinib in patients with Parkinson’s disease demonstrates precisely how the agent increases levels of dopamine in the brains of study participants, says a research team at Georgetown University Medical Center. Symptoms […]
Category: News Release
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Training the Next Generation of Researchers in Movement Disorders
(February 8, 2019) — After she first developed a tremor in her right hand, years went by before Pam Cota was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease by Fernando Pagan, MD (M’96, R’00), director of the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Movement Disorders Clinic. The number of Parkinson’s disease patients expected to grow to 1.2 million by 2030, according […]
Category: GUMC Stories
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Researchers Find Inhibiting One Protein Destroys Toxic Clumps Seen in Parkinson’s Disease
MEDIA CONTACT (ONLY, PLEASE):Karen Teberkm463@georgetown.edu WASHINGTON (November 14, 2018) — A defining feature of Parkinson’s disease is the clumps of alpha-synuclein protein that accumulate in the brain’s motor control area, destroying dopamine-producing neurons. Natural processes can’t clear these clusters, known as Lewy bodies, and no one has demonstrated how to stop the build up as well […]
Category: News Release
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Agent Clears Toxic Proteins, Reduces Inflammation and Improves Cognition in Neurodegeneration Models
LONDON (July 16, 2017) — Researchers have found cell receptors abnormally overexpressed in post-mortem brains of those with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, and that they can be inhibited in animal models to clear toxic protein buildup, reduce brain inflammation, and improve cognitive performance. These dual findings, presented by Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) researchers at […]
Category: News Release
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Georgetown University Licenses Use of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors for Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Georgetown University today announces it has exclusively licensed worldwide intellectual property (IP) rights to develop and commercialize uses of tyrosine kinase (TK) inhibitors for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases to Axovant Sciences GmbH.
Category: News Release