In the first ever clinical investigation involving genetic screening for Parkinson’s disease, researchers are testing whether the presence of a specific genetic mutation identifies which patients are the best candidates for deep brain stimulation surgery, and whether neurologists should perform that procedure differently based on that genetic information.
“We are at a very promising time in Parkinson’s disease (PD) research. Finding the connections between the vast amounts of genetic data and cognitive data we are gathering will allow us to tailor future therapies based on genetic biomarkers,” said Rush neurologist Gian Pal, MD, MS, the primary investigator for the National Institute of Health-funded clinical study “Parkinson disease and DBS: cognitive effects in GBA mutation carriers”
