Parkinson's Research Program, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs

Vision - Slow the progression of, prevent, and cure Parkinson's disease in order to lessen personal and societal impact of the disorder

Parkinson's Research Program Cover Image

The Parkinson's Research Program (PRP) began in 1997. Projects examine neurodegenerative mechanisms and compensatory effects that compromise motor, autonomic and cognitive systems which are characteristic alterations in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and which also present performance and health risks for military personnel.

The overall goals of the program are: 1) Develop means to correlate risk factors and dysfunction associated with PD, 2) Develop means to identify risk factors for subsets of the affected population, 3) Correlate clinical phenotype and molecular underpinning and 4) Develop candidate therapeutics, based on identified molecular pathway intervention points, to halt progression and extend quality of life for the at-risk population.

The program develops means to ameliorate the effect of risk factors by: 1) preventing or delaying development of the cardinal motor signs of the condition that compromise performance and long-term health and 2) identification of preventions and therapeutics for currently diagnosed patients. Specific risk factors of interest are: chemical exposures, prolonged physiological stress, depression, traumatic injury to the head, disordered sleep architecture and dysautonomia.

Congressional Appropriations