The Australian Parkinson's Project - Uncovering genetic risk factors for sporadic PD

Funded Activity Summary

Parkinson s disease (PD) is a progressively disabling movement disorder afflicting many elderly Australians. It is caused by the degeneration of specific nerve cells in the brain that produce certain chemicals and patients suffer from an inability to move fluently (or ultimately at all). At present we do not know what triggers this neurodegeneration, but it is believed that complex interactions between inherited (genetic) and environmental factors contribute significantly to the phenomenon. This project aims to learn more about these complex interactions and their association with PD. People with PD and unaffected individuals will be recruited from throughout Australia and we will look for specific combinations of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors that either increase or decrease an individual's risk for PD. This research will identify the most common dominant genetic and environmental influences for PD in Australia, enabling scientists to focus on the most relevant biological pathways to target therapeutically.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2006

End Date: 01-01-2008

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $768,546.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Central Nervous System

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Ageing | Movement disorders | Neurodegeneration | Parkinson's disease | case-control study | genetic epidemiology | longitudinal study | movement disorders

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