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Parkinson's Research at Farber
Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects the motor system, causing trembling, stiffness, difficulty in movement, and impaired balance. It currently affects nearly a million Americans, a number that will increase over the coming decades as the population ages. While available medical therapies are usually effective for controlling symptoms in the initial years following diagnosis, higher doses of multiple agents are required over time, with increasing side effects and incomplete control of symptoms. Although these treatments can dramatically improve the lives of people with Parkinson's initially, they do not address the underlying causes of the disease or the inevitable disease progression. Novel therapies are desperately needed.
Cell replacement therapies based on stem cells are one avenue of promise that is being pursued by the Farber Institute for Neurosciences of Thomas Jefferson University, led by Associate Director Lorraine Iacovitti, Ph.D.
Click on the links below to learn more about this research:
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