UAB Home To Advanced Center For Parkinson's Research

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) has been named home to one of eight Advanced Centers for Parkinson’s Research by the American Parkinson Disease Association, Inc. (APDA). Parkinson’s research has been a priority at UAB since 2003, with the creation of the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder Research Program under the direction of Ray Watts, M.D., chair of the Department of Neurology.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) has been named home to one of eight Advanced Centers for Parkinson’s Research by the American Parkinson Disease Association, Inc. (APDA).

Parkinson’s research has been a priority at UAB since 2003, with the creation of the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder Research Program under the direction of Ray Watts, M.D., chair of the Department of Neurology.

In July 2006, UAB named David Standaert, M.D., Ph.D., to head the new Division of Movement Disorders and the Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics. Both Watts and Standaert are members of the APDA Scientific Advisory Board.

UAB joins the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta; UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick; Boston University School of Medicine; University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville; UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles; and Washington University Medical Center, St. Louis, as designated APDA centers for research. Each center receives a minimum of $100,000 a year for five years.

“I believe current and emerging therapies mean that medicine is on the brink of finding a cure for Parkinson's disease,” Watts said. “It is exciting to be at the forefront of this research, and we are honored to have been selected as an advanced research center by APDA.”

APDA is the country’s largest grassroots national organization providing patient and caregiver support, free educational materials and scientific research support.

“APDA has been supporting research towards finding a cure for Parkinson’s for 45 years and has been a funding partner in every major scientific breakthrough,” said association president Vincent N. Gattullo.

Parkinson's disease, a chronic and progressive neurological condition, is a complex neurological disorder and is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder of aging after Alzheimer's disease. It affects more than 1.5 million Americans, with 40,000 to 60,000 new cases diagnosed each year.