Parkinson's Disease (cont.)
What is the Role of the NINDS?
As a world leader in research on neurological disorders, including
Parkinson's disease, the
NINDS supports a wide range of basic laboratory studies and clinical trials at
its Bethesda, Maryland , location and at grantee institutions around the world.
Through these and other research projects, scientists are moving ever closer to
unraveling the mysteries of Parkinson's disease. For patients and their families, this research
should offer encouragement and hope for the future.
The NINDS also supports 11 Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Research
Centers of Excellence throughout the country. The Centers' multidisciplinary
research environment allows scientists to take advantage of new discoveries in
the basic and technological sciences that could lead to clinical advances. Most
of the Centers also provide state-of-the-art training for young scientists
preparing for research careers investigating Parkinson's disease and related neurological
disorders. Among other topics, the Centers carry out studies of genes, of
proteins involved in cell death and degeneration, and of the brain chemicals
involved in Parkinson's disease. They also study the brain using PET brain scans and test
potential Parkinson's disease treatments in animals. The NINDS hopes that research at these
Centers of Excellence will lead to clinical trials of new therapies in humans
with Parkinson's disease.
What Can I Do to Help?
The NINDS and the National Institute of Mental Health
jointly support two
national brain specimen banks. These banks supply research scientists around the
world with nervous system tissue from patients with neurological and psychiatric
disorders. They need tissue from patients with Parkinson's disease so that scientists can study
and understand the disorder. Those who may be interested in donating should
contact:
Rashed M. Nagra, Ph.D., Director
Human Brain and Spinal Fluid Resource Center
Neurology Research (127A) W. Los Angeles Healthcare Center
11301 Wilshire Boulevard, Building 212
Los Angeles, CA 90073
310-268-3536
Page: 310-636-5199
www.loni.ucla.edu/~nnrsb/NNRSB
Francine M. Benes, M.D., Ph.D., Director
Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center
McLean Hospital
115 Mill Street
Belmont, MA 02478
617-855-2400
800-BRAIN BANK (272-4622)
www.brainbank.mclean.org
Two other organizations also provide research scientists with nervous system
tissue from patients with neurological disorders. Interested donors should write
or call:
National Disease Research Interchange
1628 JFK Boulevard
8 Penn Center, 8th floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-557-7361
800-222-NDRI (6374
www.ndriresource.org
UM/NPF Brain Endowment Bank
University of Miami Dept. of Neurology
1501 N.W. 9th Avenue, Room 4013 (D 4-5)
Miami, FL 33136
305-243-6219
800-UM-BRAIN (862-7246)
The Mohammed Ali Parkinson Center at the Barrow
Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, has developed a national registry of people with
Parkinson's disease in order
to help in the development of new therapies and to allow researchers to quickly
identify and notify people about research studies for which they are eligible.
Anyone diagnosed with Parkinson's disease is eligible to take part in this registry. For more
information, contact:
Parkinson's Disease Registry
500 W. Thomas Rd., Suite 720
Phoenix, Arizona 85013
info@maprc.com
602-406-6315
877-287-7122 (toll free)
www.maprc.com/home/info/registry.aspx
Some states, including California and Nebraska, also have registries of
people with Parkinson's disease.
People with Parkinson's disease who wish to help with research on this disorder may be able to
do so by participating in clinical studies designed to learn more about the
disease or to test potential new therapies. Information about many such studies
is available free of charge from the Federal government's database of clinical
trials, clinicaltrials.gov.
A good source for finding clinical trials specifically
on Parkinson's disease is the www.Parkinson's diseasetrials.org web site, which lists studies sponsored by the
National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies, as well as private
industry and institutions at locations across the United States. This resource
is sponsored by the Parkinson's Disease Foundation in collaboration with the
American Parkinson Disease Association, the Parkinson's Action Network, the Parkinson
Alliance, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, the National
Parkinson Foundation, WE MOVE, and the NINDS.
For clinical trials taking place at the National
Institutes of Health,
additional information is available from the following office:
Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office
Clinical Center
National Institutes of Health
Building 61, 10 Cloister Court
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-4754
800-411-1222
TTY: 301-594-9774 (local), 866-411-1010 (toll free)
www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/prpl
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