Research update

Current studies

• Investigational drug patch study. Participants will complete a diary during the study, indicating “on” and “off” periods on designated days. Volunteers who qualify will:
  • have had Parkinson’s for more than three years
  • currently take levodopa (Sinemet®) at least twice a day
  • experience wearing-off effects with levodopa
  • have not had any medication changes in the past month
• Clinical drug trial to treat Parkinson’s disease. You may qualify if:
  • you have Parkinson’s disease and are ready to start treatment
  • you have not taken levodopa or a dopamine agonist (Requip® or Mirapex®) for more than 30 days
  • your current medications are stable
  • you are willing to come to the center for seven visits over a 30-week period

For more information on these studies, call 952-993-5495 or toll-free at 1-888-993-5495.

More about our Parkinson's research

NPF quality improvement initiative

National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) began a Quality Improvement Initiative which includes establishing a Parkinson's Patient Registry. This effort is supported by a consortium of NPF Centers of Excellence in the United States and Canada.

Data collected from this initiative will be used to:

• explore the progression of Parkinson's
• describe the variation in current clinical practice
• report on current practices and patient outcomes
• determine what treatments are associated with the best outcomes for patients.

Struthers Parkinson's Center, under the direction of the site investigator, Sotirios Parashos, MD, is one of six centers selected to to test the patient registry. As part of this effort, patients will be asked to sign a consent form, complete written questions and perform simple tasks - this is expected to take no more than 30 minutes. Participants will provide this same information annually.

All 44 Centers of Excellence will begin enrolling patients into the registry sometime in 2010. NPF has the potential, once the registry is fully implemented, to add data on more than 35,000 patients a year from Centers of Excellence in the United States and approximately 20,000 a year from international centers. Parkinson community members are very excited about the patient registry and the knowledge gained by this very large, prospective database.

If you have questions about this effort, you may contact Catherine Wielinski, research director, at 952-993-5495 or toll-free 1-888-993-5495.