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Morris K. Udall Centers of Excellence for Parkinson's Disease Research

On November 13, 1997, the President of the United States signed legislation including The Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Research Act of 1997 into law (P.L. 105-78). Prior to the passage of this Act, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) had already recognized the need to establish centers of excellence in Parkinson's disease (PD) research, and as a result, released an initial Request for Applications (RFA) to solicit these centers that same month. Of the applications that were received in response to this RFA, NINDS selected three centers for funding. Following the passage of the Udall Act, NINDS issued a second RFA for Parkinson's Disease Centers of Excellence, in an effort to expand the program further. NINDS funded eight additional grants that responded to the second solicitation. All of the Udall Centers focus on scientific research designed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients with PD and related neurodegenerative disorders and on research to gain a better understanding of the fundamental cause(s) of the disease. The Centers have lived up to their expectation to foster an environment that enhances the research effectiveness of investigators in a multi-disciplinary setting, utilizing specialized methods relevant to the study of these disorders.

The Parkinson's Disease Research Centers of Excellence program was developed in honor of former Congressman Morris K. Udall, who died in 1998 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Mr. Udall was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1961 in a special election to replace his brother Stewart who left the position to become President John F. Kennedy's Secretary of the Interior. Udall was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1979; however he remained active as a Member of Congress until May 1991.

NINDS is committed to continuing and enhancing the tradition of scientific excellence that has been fostered by the Udall Centers over the past 5 years. To this end, NINDS (and the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences) released a Program Announcement in October 2002 to renew the Institute's commitment to the program and to aid current and prospective Udall Center investigators in developing competitive applications for funding. NINDS has also recently announced an increase in funds that may be allotted to the Centers to fund the types of clinical research needed to capitalize on the increasing number of findings in the basic sciences. In additional, NINDS staff members are working with the research community to finalize a minimum data set for both the clinical and pathological diagnoses of PD, which can be used to improve the accuracy of collecting PD tissues. NINDS believes that all of these efforts will help to strengthen the Udall program in the coming years.

Udall Centers Across the Country

	Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, Massachusetts Director: Peter Lansbury, Jr., Ph.D.
	Columbia University New York City, New York Director: Robert Burke, M.D.
	University of Miami Miami, Florida Director: Jeffery M. Vance, M.D., Ph.D.
	Harvard University/McLean Hospital Belmont, Massachusetts Director: Ole Isacson, M.D.
	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland Director: Ted M. Dawson, M.D., Ph.D.
	MGH/MIT Morris K. Udall Center for Excellence in Parkinson’s Research Boston, Massachusetts Director: Anne Young, M.D., Ph.D.
	Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, Florida Director: Dennis W. Dickson, M.D.
	Northwestern University Chicago, Illinois Director: D. James Surmeier, Ph.D.
	The UCLA UDALL Parkinson Disease Center of Excellence Los Angeles, California Director: Marie-Francoise S. Chesselet, M.D.
	University of Kentucky Medical Center Lexington, Kentucky Director: Greg A. Gerhardt, Ph.D.
	University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia Director: G. Fred Wooten, M.D.
	University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA Director: Michael J. Zigmond, Ph.D.
	Parkinson's Disease - Data Organizing Center University of Rochester Rochester, NY Dr. Roger Kurlan
	Udall Center for Parkinson's Research University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Philadelphia, PA. Director: Dr. John Trojanowski, M.D., Ph.D.

Udall Center Directors Annual Meeting Summaries

10th Annual Udall Center Directors Meeting (2008)
9th Annual Udall Center Directors Meeting (2007)
8th Annual Udall Center Directors Meeting (2006)

Last updated September 09, 2008