Alpha-synuclein as a therapeutic target for Parkinson’s disease: challenges and opportunities

Stanford's APDA Information & Referral Center and Stanford Parkinson's Community Outreach coordinate a local Parkinson's Disease (PD) support group in Palo Alto. Pre-pandemic, we met at a senior housing community and, prior to that, at a senior center. During the pandemic, as of March 2021, we are now meeting virtually. Our meetings will highlight local resources.

At the regular Wednesday, November 10th virtual support group meeting, the topic was cutting edge, basic science research into PD going on at Stanford. The guest speaker was:

Birgitt Schüle, MD, researcher with Stanford Pathology.

She spoke on “Alpha-synuclein as a therapeutic target for Parkinson’s disease: challenges and opportunities.” Dr. Schüle focuses on medical genetics and stem cell modeling to unlock disease mechanisms and pathways leading to neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease and related disorders, and to develop new therapeutic strategies to advance precision medicine. The line of research she is pursuing runs counter to current scientific concepts. She is investigating whether common genes and pathways underlie both neurodegeneration and neurodevelopment. This knowledge could help guide future therapeutic strategies of lowering alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease and could provide insights into early, potentially reversible disease mechanisms critical for both neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration.

Visit the Palo Alto Parkinson's Support Group https://med.stanford.edu/parkinsons/n...