SUNY Downstate Parkinson’s Researcher Ivan Bodis-Wollner Awarded Major Grant by Michael J. Fox Foundation
May 11, 2010
Ivan Bodis-Wollner, MD, DSc, professor of neurology and ophthalmology at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, and director of the Parkinson's Disease and Related Disorders Center of Excellence, has been awarded $362,882 over two years by the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) to study the use of a retinal biomarker to track the progress of neurodegeneration in patients with Parkinson's disease.
A progressive disease, Parkinson’s was originally believed to affect only the motor
system of the brain. Scientists now recognize that non-motor symptoms can also be
present. One of them is impaired vision and retinal processing. In a 1978 paper (Measurement
of Visual Evoked Potentials in Parkinson’s Disease; Brain 101:661-671), Dr. Bodis-Wollner and the late Melvin D. Yahr, MD, showed that vision
is affected in Parkinson’s disease and opened the field of investigating vision in
Parkinson’s.
Current research aimed at finding effective therapies to halt the disease’s progression
have been hindered by the lack of an easily available biomarker of neurodegeneration.
Dr. Bodis-Wollner believes that the retina may provide clues to such a marker. The
MJFF grant will fund a retinal study using optical coherence tomography (OCT), an
optical scanning method for creating three-dimensional images of organs and tissues.
In previous clinical studies using OCT, Dr. Bodis-Wollner found that the central retinal area becomes thin in patients with Parkinson’s disease. He anticipates that the MJFF-funded study will validate these preliminary results and establish that retinal thinning parallels the progression of motor impairment in Parkinson’s. He hopes that the study will provide important new knowledge of the disease and lead to new therapies to halt its progression.
Dr. Bodis-Wollner has published over 140 research studies in such top-tier journals as Nature, Science, Journal of Physiology, Brain, and Annals of Neurology, plus six books. His honors and awards include: Fogarty Senior Fellowship (1986); Humboldt Research Prize (1993); Doctor Honoris Causa, Szeged University, Hungary; membership in the American Neurological Association and in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2001); Fellow, Hanse Institute for Advanced Studies; member, Executive Council of the World Federation of Neurology Committee on Parkinson Disease and Related Disorders; and co-chairman, Non-Motor Committee of the Parkinson Study Group, Rochester, NY.
###
About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.
UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.