OHSU Parkinson Center

07/15/2025

Please join The Brian Grant Foundation and others in the Parkinson’s community for their 2nd annual Mix & Mingle, open house style!

Stay for as little or as long as you like from 4:00pm to 8:00pm. There will be food, beverages, including a lemonade stand compliments of Shake Shack in Bridgeport Village, and a few games to play.

We look forward to seeing you. Be social with us!

Date: Thursday, July 24, 2025
Time: 4:00pm to 8:00pm
Location: Pivot Group, 7405 Southwest Tech Center Drive #140
Portland, Oregon 97223

If you have not already RSVP’d, please let us know if you can make it!

Be social with us! Come meet the BGF staff and others in the Parkinson’s community.

07/07/2025

This month we are highlighting "Parkinson’s disease variant detection and disclosure: PD GENEration, a North American study" as out Paper of the Month!

Our own Research Assistants Madison Christopher, and Madeline Armendariz-Sullivan are playing key roles in supporting this study. Feel free to ask them about this exciting research – they’d be happy to share more!

Variants in seven genes (LRRK2, GBA1, PRKN, SNCA, PINK1, PARK7 and VPS35) have been formally adjudicated as causal contributors to Parkinson’s disease; however, individuals with Parkinson’s disease are often unaware of their genetic status since clinical testing is infrequently offered. As a result, genetic information is not incorporated into clinical care, and variant-targeted precision medicine trials struggle to enrol people with Parkinson’s disease. Understanding the yield of genetic testing using an established gene panel in a large, geographically diverse North American population would help patients, clinicians, clinical researchers, laboratories and insurers better understand the importance of genetics in approaching Parkinson’s disease.

Cook et al. present results from an ongoing multicentre observational study offering genetic testing with results disclosure and genetic counselling to ind

06/25/2025

Checkout the Brian Grant Foundation for more information on support groups care partners!

Opportunity just for care partners to meet, chat, and hang out with others who support people living with Parkinson's in Portland, Oregon.

06/10/2025

This month we are highlighting "Alpha-synuclein regulates nucleolar DNA double-strand break repair in melanoma" by Vivek Unni as our Paper of the Month!

"Although an increased risk of the skin cancer melanoma in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been shown in multiple studies, the mechanisms involved are poorly understood, but increased expression of the PD-associated protein alpha-synuclein (αSyn) in melanoma cells may be important. Our previous work suggests that αSyn can facilitate DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair, promoting genomic stability. We now show that αSyn is preferentially enriched within the nucleolus in melanoma, where it colocalizes with DNA damage markers and DSBs. Inducing DSBs specifically within nucleolar ribosomal DNA (rDNA) increases αSyn levels near sites of damage. αSyn knockout increases DNA damage within the nucleolus at baseline, after specific rDNA DSB induction, and prolongs the rate of recovery from this induced damage. αSyn is important downstream of ataxia-telangiectasia–mutated signaling to facilitate MDC1-mediated 53BP1 recruitment to DSBs, reducing micronuclei formation and promoting cellular proliferation, migration, and invasion."

Alpha-synuclein, a neurodegeneration-associated protein, functions in nucleolar DNA double-strand break repair in melanoma.

06/02/2025

A few weeks ago, 55 of Pacific Northwest's movement disorder providers and researchers gathered in Blaine, WA at Semiahmoo Resort and Spa for the 18th Annual Pacific Northwest Basal Ganglia Coterie!

05/01/2025

This month we are highlighting "Time-restricted eating in early-stage Huntington’s disease" by Russell Wells as our Paper of the Month!

"Despite considerable efforts, there are currently no effective disease-modifying treatments for Huntington’s disease (HD), a debilitating and devastating neurodegenerative disorder. Exploring novel therapeutic approaches, including lifestyle modifications, that could delay symptom onset and disease progression is urgently needed."

See the May Paper of the Month Here!: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0319253 #:~:text=The%20proposed%20study%20will%20be,every%20day%20for%2012%20weeks.

04/23/2025

A huge shoutout to our team and Parkinson's Resources of Oregon (PRO) for putting on such a great event last week! Our providers, Shannon Anderson, M.P.A.S, PA-C, Delaram Safarpour, M.D., M.S.C.E., FAAN, Matthew Brodsky, M.D., and Daniel Cleary, M.D., Ph.D. were on a panel for PRO’s A Life Beyond the Pills: Innovations in Treatment and Self Care Forum on Wednesday, April 16th. Thank you to all who participated and planned this event!

Wow! What a Talk!!

We first want to offer a most sincere "thank you" to our presenters - Ruth Jenkins, Patrick Short, Shannon Anderson, and Drs. Cleary, Dr. Safarpour, Dr. Brodsky - for sharing your immense knowledge and passion with our community. We are confident that everyone who had the good fortune of attending Wednesday's event walked away having learned something new and, we hope, energized to try something new in the management of their Parkinson's.

We also wish to offer a huge thank you to our annual sponsors Supernus, Abbvie, Acadia and Boston Scientific. It is with their support that helps PRO offer events like this.

And most importantly, we want to thank our guests. You are the heart of the PRO community. 💙 Your enthusiasm and support guides the work that we do and the programs that we offer! You are what makes PRO PRO! Again, Thank you.

04/11/2025

Reposting this from our incredible Movers & Shakers Portland!

Today, on World Parkinson’s Day, we move with purpose. 🧠💪
We honor the strength, resilience, and courage of those living with Parkinson’s—and we continue to shake things up in support, awareness, and action. Unsure about what resources are out there?

See below:
🤝 Brian Grant Foundation
🌷 Parkinson's Resources of Oregon (PRO)
🦊 The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
🌲 NW Parkinson's Foundation
🧠 OHSU Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders: https://www.ohsu.edu/brain-institute/parkinsons-disease-resources-patients-and-families

Join us in raising awareness about the importance of community and exercise by commenting your favorite type of workout for Parkinson's below, or by posting with the hashtag or !

04/10/2025

Exciting new research from our very own Dr. Vivek Unni and team!

"The study, published today in the journal Science Advances, suggests new avenues for drug development to reduce the risk of developing both Parkinson’s and skin cancer by targeting the function of the alpha-synuclein protein, which appears to have a critical role in regulating cellular functions."

Different behaviors of same key protein in neurons, skin cells suggest new therapies should target the alpha-synuclein protein.

04/01/2025

April is Parkinson's Awareness Month! All month long our team will be wearing a red tulip pin to raise awareness and show support for people living with Parkinson's and their caregivers!

April is Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month! Did you know a red tulip is a symbol for Parkinson’s Disease?🌷

All month long, the team at the Parkinsons Center of Oregon at OHSU will be wearing tulip pins to raise awareness and show support for people living with Parkinson’s and their caregivers.❤️

Learn more about our team: https://www.ohsu.edu/brain-institute/parkinsons-disease-and-movement-disorders

02/11/2025

Register for OHSU's Parkinson Disease Workshops and other educational events for patients and caregivers.