Parkinson's Disease And Movement Disorders News

Research authored by members of the Duke Neurology Department published during the final month of 2021 advanced our knowledge of stroke, epilepsy, dystonia, and other conditions.

The second half of 2021 was as eventful as the first for the Duke Neurology Department. Story highlights from July through December of this year include our Leonard White, PhD, winning a national award for excellence in teaching, the founding of a joint Duke/UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, two of our hospitals receiving the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s highest award for quality stroke care, and the School of Medicine receiving  awards totaling $18 million to uncover the origins of Parkinson’s disease.

The Duke Neurology Department continued to grow and expand its missions of providing excellent clinical care, conducting research to improve our understanding of neurological conditions and how to treat them, and training the next generation of neurologists throughout 2021.

Members of the Duke Neurology Department contributed to 14 new peer-reviewed journal articles written this November. Highlights include an analysis of fragmentation within the delivery of neurological health care, an examination of racial disparities in the use of telehealth, and a discussion of the best ways to use social medicine to share news on epilepsy and clinical neurophysiology. Read the paragraphs below for short summaries of each of these 14 articles, as well as links to the original entries themselves.

Memory Disorders

As an undergraduate, Miranda Shipman studied drawing and painting, teaching art and managing a gallery until she developed a rare brain tumor. After she had the tumor removed, Shipman developed a passion for neuroscience, with the hope of helping to discover new treatments. Now she’s helping to do just that in the lab of Nicole Calakos, MD, PhD, where she’s screening compounds to help people living with dystonia.

Researchers at Duke University School of Medicine have been selected to lead two inter-institution team grants totaling $18 million to investigate Parkinson’s disease.

The awards from the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative position Duke as a national leader in understanding the origins and development of this devastating movement disorder.

New research from the Duke Neurology Department provided insights into our ability to improve patient care and better understand neurological conditions. The 11 studies featuring our faculty, staff, and trainees published this September include the discovery of an HIV medication’s surprising potential to treat dystonia, an analysis of brain tumor patients admitted to intensive care, and a personal story of one faculty member’s grandfather, who lived through the ups and downs of a century of health care in the United States.

New research from Duke University has found that ritonavir, an FDA-approved medication currently used to treat HIV, corrects multiple brain abnormalities associated with a mouse model of a genetic form of dystonia. The study was published in the August issue of Science Translational Medicine. 

As our Movement Disorders clinic’s newest clinical  research coordinator, Tiffany Tran has what she sees as “the best of both worlds”: opportunities to interact with patients living with movement disorders as well as chances to learn more about clinical research through ongoing studies that are occurring at Duke.

Kathryn Moore’s interest in neurology goes back to at least the 6th grade, when she used an apple slice to explain the basics of brain anatomy to her friends. She majored in neuroscience at Duke University before attending UNC Chapel Hill for her medical degree and neurology residency. Now, she’s back at Duke as our newest movement disorders specialist.