2024: A Year in Review
ASAP is excited to share how we pushed the Parkinson’s disease research field forward. Together, our supported programs worked to funnel new ideas into Parkinson’s disease R&D, facilitate the rapid exchange of ideas, ensure researchers can build upon ASAP-funded work, and establish a diverse pipeline for the next generation of researchers.
Celebrating the Collaborative ASAP Community Through Art&Science
Dr. Dorotea Fracchiolla from Team Hurley and Founder of Art&Science shares her recent series of paintings that depict the brains of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and highlights ASAP's role in facilitating collaboration and knowledge-sharing in the PD community.
PINK1 Pathway to Parkinson’s Disease: 20 Years On
Check out this blog to learn more about the PINK1 meeting that took place in London in November 2024 that marked the 20th anniversary of the discovery of PINK1 mutations linked to Parkinson’s disease.
Favre’s Parkinson’s Disease Diagnosis Raises Questions About Link to Football; UAB Research Might Have Answers
WBRC reports on a recent study that found that blows to the head, like football players regularly experience, play a significant role in a person's potential to developing Parkinson's disease.
The Role of an Energy-Producing Enzyme in Treating Parkinson’s Disease
Read this article to see how ASAP Team De Camilli discovered that an enzyme called PGK1 has an unexpectedly critical role in the production of chemical energy in brain cells and that boosting its activity may help the brain resist the energy deficits that can lead to Parkinson’s disease.
Supporting the Next Generation of Parkinson’s Disease Scientists: 2024 ASAP COSA Virtual Meeting
ASAP’s annual Celebration of Scientific Achievement (COSA) showcased the outstanding contributions of young investigators across our Collaborative Research Network (CRN). This year’s event attracted over 550 attendees who attended poster presentations from over 140 ASAP young investigators.
Platform Launched for Sharing Brain Samples in Parkinson’s Research
Parkinson's News Today reports on the ASAP CRN Cloud, a data-sharing platform that will make data on human brain samples available to researchers around the world.
Finding Rewrites Understanding Into Parkinson’s Disease Pathway
Science Daily reports on ASAP Team Hurley's recent findings that solves a mystery about how the protein Optineurin recognizes unhealthy mitochondria 'tagged' by PINK1 and Parkin, enabling their delivery to our body's garbage disposal system.
Art&Science: Parkinson’s Disease Edition
ASAP CRN researcher, Dr. Dorotea Fracchiolla, created a series of two paintings that represent topics that were discussed throughout the 2023 Collaborative Meetings in San Diego (USA) and London (UK).
Scientists Discover How PINK1 Pathway Activates to Protect Cells
Read this article to see how ASAP Team Alessi uncovered the mechanisms behind the activation of the PINK1 protein, an enzyme that protects the brain against nerve cell degeneration and the development of Parkinson’s disease.
New Molecular Sensor Tracks Energy Use at the Subcellular Level
Read this article to see how ASAP Team De Camilli and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers developed and tested a high-resolution sensor for tracking the real-time dynamics of ATP levels in cells and within subcellular compartments.
Meeting of the (PD) Minds: Recap of the 2024 ASAP CRN Meeting
Core Leadership across the 35 CRN teams came together in person for the 2024 ASAP CRN Investigators Meeting in Rome for a week-long meeting to highlight their teams' most impactful contributions to the PD research field since the start of their award.
Neuronal Diversity Impacts the Brain’s Information Processing
This news story features Team Surmeier’s findings related to the impact of neuronal structural diversity on neural computation, the basis of brain function.
A Common Marker of Neurological Diseases May Play Role in Healthy Brains
The news story features Team Gradinaru’s discovery that a protein called phosphorylated -synuclein, which is associated with several neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia, is also involved in the normal processes of how neurons communicate with each other in a healthy brain.
A Substantial Number of Parkinson’s Disease Cases Can Be Attributed to Preventable Risk Factors, New Research Finds
This news story discusses a research study by Team Liddle in Nature’s Parkinson’s Disease journal that found that preventable risk factors play a significant role in a person’s potential of developing Parkinson’s disease.
2023: A Year in Review
ASAP reflects on the results our initiative, network, and supported programs have had on providing new insights into Parkinson’s disease in 2023. Together, we have uncovered novel discoveries and made progress toward our vision of advancing collaborative, transparent research processes, and environments that deliver faster and better outcomes in PD research.
Tiny Pieces of Discarded Plastics Like Styrofoam May Promote Parkinson’s
This story reports on a research study by Team Liddle that found that nanoplastics that can reach a person’s brain can increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease or its progression by prompting the protein alpha-synuclein to clump and turn toxic.
Nanoplastics Promote Conditions for Parkinson’s Across Various Lab Models
Read this article to see how ASAP Team Liddle found that nanoplastics interact with a particular protein that is naturally found in the brain, creating changes linked to Parkinson’s disease and some types of dementia.
Brain’s Hidden “Junk” – Mysterious RNA Circles Produced by Cells Damaged in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease
SciTechDaily discusses a research study by Team Scherzer that identified over 11,000 distinct RNA circles that characterized brain cells implicated in Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
Study Adds to Evidence That Parkinson’s Starts in the Gut
This story reports on new findings from Team Sulzer that indicates that PD begins in the gut and that what triggers initial gastrointestinal changes in Parkinson’s could be a misdirected immune attack.
