The Michael Stern Parkinson’s Research Foundation has designed a
research approach that we believe will greatly speed discovery
of an effective new drug to prevent development of Parkinson’s
disease — a medical condition caused by the death of dopamine-
producing neurons. The current L-Dopa drug therapy attempts to
replace dopamine that is lost due to the death of these cells,
but this treatment has a positive effect for only a few years.
Our method applies the “TRAP Technology” that we originally
developed in our laboratories to analyze and compare all of the
proteins produced in two different kinds of dopamine-producing
neurons in the brain. This approach will tell us why only a
certain kind of dopamine-producing neurons die and will enable
us to be the first to identify the proteins in dopamine-
producing neurons that drive Parkinson’s disease, and may be
targeted by a potential new drug to save these critical neurons.
The unique knowledge base and sophisticated technology the MSPRF
research group has gained