P50NS123103

Morris K. Udall Centers of Excellence for Parkinson's Disease Research at Emory University - Project Summary – Overall Center

The Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Center of Excellence for Parkinson’s Disease Research at Emory University is a collaborative research program that studies the pathophysiology of Parkinsonism with the goal of optimizing the treatment for Parkinson’s Disease (PD). The center draws upon the proven ability of the basal ganglia research community at Emory to conduct collaborative translational research.

Other Udall Center assets are the availability of primates for research at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory, and the presence of one of the largest movement disorders clinics in the US.

The center consists of four projects and three cores. The planned research will shed light on the poorly understood Parkinsonism-related activity changes of specifically identified groups of projection neurons in the cerebral cortex which, in turn, will help us to better understand the pathophysiology of Parkinsonism, and to optimize therapeutic strategies.

Project 1 (led by Dr. Jaeger) will utilize rodent experiments for large-scale voltage imaging and brain slice recordings and use neural computational approaches to develop mechanistic models of cortical dysfunction in Parkinsonism.

Project 2 (Dr. Galvan) will explore the spontaneous and task-related activity of corticostriatal and corticospinal neurons in the primary motor cortex (M1) and the supplementary motor area (SMA) in normal and Parkinsonian monkeys, using an opto-tagging approach to identify the projection targets of the recorded neurons.

Project 3 (Dr. Smith) will examine morphological changes in the M1 and SMA microcircuitry and Parkinsonism-associated changes in the connectome of cortical projection neurons in primates, a topic that is virtually unexplored and of high relevance to the interpretation of data in Projects 1 and 2.

The clinical 'catalyst' Project 4 is an examination of Parkinsonism-related changes in cortical activity in response inhibition tasks, studied in electrocorticography and electroencephalography signals in patients with PD. The functional experiments will also study the effects of levodopa and deep brain stimulation treatments in these paradigms.

All projects will be supported by an administrative core (Core A, Dr. Wichmann, PI; Dr. Smith, Associate Director, Ms. Holbrook, Administrator), and by a service core that provides anatomical services to Projects 1 and 2, behavioral assessments to Projects 2 and 3, and statistical services to all projects (Core B, Dr. Galvan). A clinical core (Core C) will support Project 4 with recruitment and logistic services for the human studies.

In addition to pursuing its research mission (Aim 1), the center will help young scientists to develop their career in PD research (Aim 2), and will engage in extensive outreach efforts, aimed at communicating the center’s (and Udall Center Network) research findings to the public (Aim 3), reaching all age groups and background levels. As part of the outreach agenda, the center plans to organize annual outreach events for patients and their caregivers.

Generous internal support funds will help the center to fund some of its education and outreach missions, as well as its pilot grant program, designed to expand PD research at Emory.

Emory University

(1) TO SUPPORT EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH FUNDED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE (NINDS) INCLUDING: BASIC RESEARCH THAT EXPLORES THE FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE BRAIN AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, RESEARCH TO UNDERSTAND THE CAUSES AND ORIGINS OF PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM WITH THE GOAL OF PREVENTING THESE DISORDERS, RESEARCH ON THE NATURAL COURSE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, IMPROVED METHODS OF DISEASE PREVENTION, NEW METHODS OF DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT, DRUG DEVELOPMENT, DEVELOPMENT OF NEURAL DEVICES, CLINICAL TRIALS, AND RESEARCH TRAINING IN BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE. THE INSTITUTE IS THE LARGEST FUNDER OF BASIC NEUROSCIENCE IN THE US AND SUPPORTS RESEARCH ON TOPICS INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: DEVELOPMENT OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, INCLUDING NEUROGENESIS AND PROGENITOR CELL BIOLOGY, SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION IN DEVELOPMENT AND PLASTICITY, AND PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH, SYNAPSE FORMATION, FUNCTION, AND PLASTICITY, LEARNING AND MEMORY, CHANNELS, TRANSPORTERS, AND PUMPS, CIRCUIT FORMATION AND MODULATION, BEHAVIORAL AND COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE, SENSORIMOTOR LEARNING, INTEGRATION AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION, NEUROENDOCRINE SYSTEMS, SLEEP AND CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS, AND SENSORY AND MOTOR SYSTEMS. IN ADDITION, THE INSTITUTE SUPPORTS BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL AND CLINICAL STUDIES ON A NUMBER OF DISORDERS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM INCLUDING (BUT NOT LIMITED TO): STROKE, TRAUMATIC INJURY TO THE BRAIN, SPINAL CORD AND PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS, MOVEMENT DISORDERS, BRAIN TUMORS, CONVULSIVE DISORDERS, INFECTIOUS DISORDERS OF THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM, IMMUNE DISORDERS OF THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM, INCLUDING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, DISORDERS RELATED TO SLEEP, AND PAIN. PROGRAMMATIC AREAS, WHICH ARE PRIMARILY SUPPORTED BY THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE, ARE ALSO SUPPORTED BY THE DIVISION OF EXTRAMURAL ACTIVITIES, THE DIVISION OF TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, THE DIVISION OF CLINICAL RESEARCH, THE OFFICE OF TRAINING AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, THE OFFICE OF PROGRAMS TO ENHANCE NEUROSCIENCE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, AND THE OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES. (2) TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. TO UTILIZE THE SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM, TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.853 - Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NNDS) [HHS - NIH]

Atlanta, Georgia 303294208 United States

Single Zip Code

NINDS Morris K. Udall Centers of Excellence for Parkinson's Disease Research (P50 Clinical Trial Optional) (RFA-NS-21-001)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 389% from $2,390,134 to $11,694,163.