Over the past two decades genetic studies have uncovered rare mutations that are causative for Parkinson’s Disease (PD) as well as more common mutations that are associated with increased risk for the disease. These studies have altered our thinking about a disease that was once considered largely nongenetic in nature and have led to new insights into underlying disease mechanisms. In addition, the identification of PD-associated genes has led to the development of new disease models with greater relevance to the human condition.
In this webinar we will hear from four leading researchers in the PD field who will offer their perspectives on what we have learned from PD genetics, how it has shaped our understanding of disease biology, and whether it has brought us closer to valid drug targets and new treatments.
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Asa Abeliovich is Prevail’s Chief Executive Officer and Founder, bringing more than 25 years of academic and industry experience in research and the understanding of genetic and molecular mechanisms that underlie neurological disorders of aging, such as Parkinson’s disease. Prior to Prevail Therapeutics, Asa was Co-Founder of and consultant to Alector, a biotechnology company which is developing antibodies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Asa was previously a tenured Associate Professor of Pathology, Cell Biology, and Neurology at Columbia University, as well as a member of the Taub Institute for Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain. He has also previously served as an Attending Physician in Neurology at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the New York Psychiatric Institute. Asa was awarded the Lamport Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research at Columbia University in 2005. Asa is on the Scientific Advisory Board of The Silverstein Foundation for Parkinson’s with GBA.
Asa holds M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), respectively, and Bachelor’s degrees in life sciences and humanities from MIT. Asa was awarded a Medical Scholar Training Program Fellowship and completed his residency training in neurology at the University of California, San Francisco.
Spring Behrouz, Ph.D. (CEO) is a neuroscientist with over 15 years working on Parkinson's disease. Founding CEO at NeuroInitiative since 2014 where she laid out a vision for applying advanced computational drug discovery methods, which led to Vincere's pipeline. Previously she worked with Matt Farrer at Mayo clinic to characterize genetic models of Parkinson's disease and was part of the team that discovered a new pathogenic mutation in VPS35. Her PhD work implemented cutting-edge laser capture, microarray, and in vivo siRNA techniques to identify protective genomic changes in Parkinson’s models. Recipient of JBJ’s 40 under 40 award, winner of One Spark’s science award, and supporter of science on the TEDx and March for Science stages.
Professor in Alzheimer's Research at University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research
Dr. Virginia M.-Y. Lee studied music at the Royal Academy of Music in London (1962-1964) and received her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of California at San Francisco in 1973. She joined the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine in 1981 and rose to become Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine in 1989. Dr. Lee identified tau, alpha-synuclein and TDP-43 as disease proteins that form unique inclusions in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and frontotemporal degeneration/Lou Gehrig’s disease, respectively, and has advanced understanding of their roles in these disorders. Dr. Lee’s h-index is 146 and she is listed among the 10 most highly cited AD researchers from 1985-2008 and among the top 400 most highly influential biomedical researchers from 1996-2011. ISI has recognized Dr. Lee as an ISI Highly Cited Researcher and places her in the top 10 most highly cited neuroscientists from 1997 to 2007.
Director of the Programs in Neuroregeneration and Stem Cells in the Institute for Cell Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Dr. Dawson is Director of the Programs in Neuroregeneration and Stem Cells in the Institute for Cell Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is a Professor in the Departments of Neurology, Neuroscience and Physiology. Her laboratory has been on forefront of discovery of neurotoxic signaling events in stroke and Parkinson’s disease. She has defined the cell death pathway Parthanatos, which is a primary cell death pathway in a number of organ systems including the nervous system. She has made seminal contributions to the understanding of neuronal death pathways activated by proteins associated with Parkinson’s disease with a focus on a-synuclein, parkin, DJ-1 and LRRK2. Her team discovered that LAG3 is the receptor for pathologic aggregated a-synuclein leading to transmission and disease progression. In a collaborative set of studies, she found that activated A1 astrocytes play a role in the pathogenesis of PD and Alzheimer’s disease, which can be prevented by a novel glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) agonist, NLY01, developed at Johns Hopkins. This compound is under development for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Dawson’s honors include the Debrecen Prize in Molecular Medicine, the Danial Nathans Innovator, Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher and Worlds Most Influential Minds, and elected Fellow to the American Heart Association (F.A.H.A.), American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Neurological Association. Her research has advanced the understanding of cellular signaling events that underlie neuronal injury which is leading to the development of new clinical therapies.
Eric Schaeffer is Senior Director for Neuroscience External Innovation at Johnson & Johnson, where he is responsible for neuroscience partnerships and collaborations in the Eastern United States and Canada. Eric received his PhD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. He went on to do post-doctoral fellowships at MIT, studying the genetics of learning and memory in Drosophila, and Rockefeller University where he worked in the laboratory of Paul Greengard on the presynaptic mechanisms regulating neurotransmitter release. After completing his academic training, Eric accepted a position at Pfizer, where he held several positions within the Neuroscience therapeutic area, ultimately as a Senior Director of Neuroscience Research, leading the in vitro and in vivo pharmacology group. While at Pfizer, Eric contributed to advancing several compounds into early development for the treatment of Depression, Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder, and played a key role on the team that discovered Chantix, the first FDA-approved non-nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation. In 2009 Eric joined CHDI (Cure Huntington’s Disease Initiative) as the Director of Neuropharmacology, where he led drug discovery and translational teams in the identification of novel treatments for Huntington’s disease. In 2010 Eric accepted a position in the early development group at Bristol Meyers Squibb, as Director of Neuroscience Clinical Biomarkers, where he was responsible for the translational medicine strategies and tactics for the psychiatry portfolio. In his current role at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Eric is responsible for developing and implementing the Neuroscience external innovation strategy, which focuses on identifying and establishing external partnerhsips in the areas of neurodegenerative diseases and mood disorders.
