One Step Closer to Reversing Parkinson’s

Parkinson’s affects more than a million people in the United States, and up to 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. One of the defining characteristics of Parkinson’s is the loss of neurons in the brain that produce dopamine, a critically important neurotransmitter for a variety of body functions. Current therapy for Parkinson’s does not treat the disease but only manages the symptoms.

That may change with research by Elena Batrakova, Ph.D., a principal investigator at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery, whose work explores cell-based gene delivery to the brain as a groundbreaking therapy for Parkinson’s.

Read the complete Carolina Story from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy…

This is story number 117 in the Carolina Stories 225th Anniversary Edition magazine.

Batrakova’s research is made possible by an R01 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke worth up to $1.7 million over five years.

The Eshelman Institute for Innovation is made possible by a $100 million gift from Fred Eshelman to accelerate the creation and development of ideas leading to discoveries and transformative changes in education, research and health care. To learn more about the EII’s impact, visit unceii.org/impact.

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