Patients have always been at the heart of what we do at The Michael J. Fox Foundation. Our dedication to improving patients’ quality of life and answering their unmet needs — sooner rather than later — has shaped our research priorities.
Prior to the Foundation’s launch, the belief that patients could help accelerate new treatments wasn’t necessarily a prevalent one in the research community. But MJFF — and patients themselves — have helped to change that perception. Continue reading “Engaged Parkinson’s Patients Are the Answer to a Cure” »
While levodopa is the gold standard therapy for Parkinson’s disease (PD), current delivery methods have their limitations. Many patients who take it experience “off” periods, when the medication’s effects wear off before they are ready to take their next dose, leaving them in a state where symptoms like lack of mobility may return. Those taking levodopa also risk developing dyskinesias, the excessive and uncontrollable movements that are among the most difficult aspects of the disease to manage.
But finding a more consistent method of delivering levodopa could help to minimize both “off” periods and dyskinesias alike. Continue reading “Podcast: Limiting On-Off Periods in Parkinson’s Medications” »
Understanding the genetics of Parkinson’s disease (PD) could be a total game changer in developing new treatments for the disease. Especially when it comes to two genetic targets in particular: LRRK2, the most common genetic mutation in PD, and alpha-synuclein, whose clumping in the brain is the pathological hallmark of the disease.
But the genetic connection of LRRK2 to Parkinson’s is more mystery than destiny; genetics alone rarely cause the onset of a disease.
So what else is at play? Continue reading “Podcast: What is the Connection Between Genetics and Environment in Parkinson’s?” »
This fall, The FDA recommended that Teva Neuroscience’s drug rasagiline, brand name Azilect, should not be granted status “to slow the clinical progression of PD.” In this podcast, Dave Iverson speaks with MJFF’s Brian Fiske about what this recommendation could mean for those living with PD.
Teva Seeks Label Change for Azilect
To read more about the FDA’s recommendation, check out this Fox Foundation News in Context with Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) Principal Investigator Dr. Ken Marek.
This past October, Austrian biotech AFFiRiS announced $1.5 million in funding from MJFF for an early stage clinical trial of a first-of-its-kind vaccine approach to treating Parkinson’s disease (PD), called PD01. Then, in November, the company announced 30 million Euros in additional funding from two investors to develop its portfolio of PD and Alzheimer’s vaccines.
In this podcast, Dave Iverson speaks with AFFiRiS’ Chief Medical Officer Achim Schneeberger about PD01, and how it could work to break up the clumps of the protein alpha-synuclein that occur in the brains of those with PD. The hope is that, in so doing, the treatment could modify the course of the disease itself.
A PD Vaccine Approach
On December 6, Mark Frasier and Ken Marek from the Institute of Neurodegenerative Disorders led a discussion about biomarkers and PPMI.
Listen to that call:
Patients have always been at the heart of what we do at The Michael J. Fox Foundation. Our dedication to improving patients’ quality of life and answering their unmet needs — sooner rather than later — has shaped our research priorities.