An MSU physician is testing a new theory that may lead to better therapies for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
John Goudreau, director of
MSU’s Translational Neurobiology Research Unit, has received a $1.5 million grant from the
National Institutes of Health. He’ll use the funding to study whether a protein known as parkin could help the human body fight off the damage caused by Parkinson’s.
“Parkinson’s is a progressive disease, and much of the research has been focused on slowing that progression by preventing cell injury and death,” Goudreau says. “But we are looking at why some neurons in the brain are able to fight off the disease through a unique ability to revive after being hit with an injury that kills other cells.”
Goudreau has been studying Parkinson’s at MSU for 10 years. He holds appointments in MSU’s departments of Neurology and Pharmacology/Toxicology in the College of Osteopathic Medicine.
“Understanding how parkin promotes recovery from injury may allow us to provide cells injured in Parkinson’s disease the necessary tools to survive,” he says.
Source: John Goudreau, MSU
Writer: Louise Knott Ahern