The National Institutes of Health this week named UAB a Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson’s disease research, making it one of eight such centers in country.
UAB will receive roughly $10 million over the next five years to fund research on Parkinson’s Disease. The money comes from the NIH and will also be used to expand community outreach and medical training related to the disease.
David Standaert, chair of UAB’s neurology department, will lead the Alabama Udall Center. He says there has been a lot of research about the causes of Parkinson’s and how it is triggered, but less is known about how the disease spreads through the brain. UAB will focus on that, looking at how the immune system affects the progression and treatment of Parkinson’s.
Other Udall Centers of Excellence nationwide are at places like Harvard and Johns Hopkins. The program was created in honor of a former congressman who battled Parkinson’s. The NIH will fund UAB’s program through 2023. After that, UAB can reapply for more funding.