Emory Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Program

Making Strides in Movement

The Emory Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Program has long been recognized among the best in the world. Nearly thirty years ago a Eureka moment in one of our labs allowed scientists to begin mapping the brain. This astonishing achievement led to some of our breakthrough surgical procedures including the Palidotomy and Deep Brain Stimulation used in alleviating rigidity and tremors that accompany this group of diseases.

Because of the courage and willingness of thousands of our patients and their families to participate in clinical trials, our research continues to yield groundbreaking results. Just recently, our collaborative work with other Udall Parkinson’s Disease Research identified genes related to Parkinson’s that hold promise for treatment interventions that will slow the progress of this disease.

To keep this momentum going, we increasingly rely on philanthropic support. Why? Because the NIH, the federal government’s leading research institution, invests only $139 million in Parkinson’s research annually. With continued budget cutbacks, we cannot rely on the government or even private enterprise to fund our labs and clinical trials.

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