Ochsner Health, a healthcare provider in the U.S. Gulf South, has been named one of six new study sites by the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2), which is studying the genetic basis of Parkinson’s disease among underrepresented populations.
Increased genetic knowledge of these populations may support the development of new treatments for the neurodegenerative disease, or foster the use of those now being tested, according to researchers.
This new expansion broadens the Black and African American Connections to Parkinson’s disease (BLAAC PD) study’s geographic areas across the U.S. Per Ochsner, the results may contribute to a broader application of genetic findings across ancestries.
“Ochsner is excited to join this existing network of study sites across the United States and the GP2 global network to expand understanding of Parkinson’s disease within the Black and African American community and contribute to a more holistic, global understanding of the disease,” Julia Staisch, MD, a neurologist at Ochsner Health, and principal investigator of the study, said in a press release from the nonprofit healthcare provider.
Expansion broadens reach of global Parkinson’s genetic study
As part of the world’s largest Parkinson’s genetics consortium, Oschner will receive funding to support study visit expenses, supplies, community engagement strategy, staffing, and participant incentives, according to the release.
Both genetic and environmental factors are thought to contribute to the development of Parkinson’s, a neurodegenerative disease marked by the loss of neurons that produce dopamine, a brain chemical messenger involved in motor control. The disease is characterized by motor symptoms like movement difficulties and impaired coordination, as well as nonmotor symptoms such as sleeping issues and fatigue.
In the U.S., the disease is estimated to affect 23 Black people of every 100,000, compared with 54 white people per 100,000.
In other words, the condition’s prevalence — the number of people in a population who have a disease at a specific time — is about 50% lower among Black people compared with white individuals. Genetic or biological differences may help explain these differing rates. But under-reporting of symptoms, patients’ mistrust in healthcare, and disparities in access to health insurance also may be factors.
GP2’s program is part of the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s initiative, which aims to promote collaboration, and to contribute to a better understanding of the underlying causes of Parkinson’s. To date, most research on the genetic basis of Parkinson’s has primarily focused on individuals of European descent.
The BLAAC PD study intends to recruit adults from the Black or African American community — including Parkinson’s patients and people without the disease. This study recently contributed to the identification of a novel risk factor in the GBA1 gene unique to individuals with Parkinson’s and African ancestry.
These studies … are aimed at uncovering genetic markers of disease and health disparities such as barriers to care affecting Black and African Americans with Parkinson’s.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research serves as the implementation partner for GP2, Ochsner noted.
“These studies in partnership with the Michael J. Fox Foundation are aimed at uncovering genetic markers of disease and health disparities such as barriers to care affecting Black and African Americans with Parkinson’s,” Staisch said.
Earlier this year, four new sites were also selected for the GP2 study: the University Hospitals healthcare system in Cleveland; the University of Texas Health in Houston; Washington University in St. Louis; and the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston.
They joined Louisiana State University and the University of Florida, as well as the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic in Maryland, Rush University, and the University of Chicago, both in Illinois.
Ochsner’s research on the neurodegenerative disease extends to two additional studies — African Americans in Louisiana with Parkinson’s disease, in GoAAL-PD, and PD generation, led by the Parkinson’s Foundation — aimed at finding novel genes and investigating disparities in care access.
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