On Oct. 10, 2019, University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) researchers announced they had received a $20 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to develop a critical tool for imaging Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. This marked a multi-institutional effort called The Center Without Walls.

Parkinson’s disease, a progressive nervous system disorder, affects 10 million people worldwide and 500,000 in the United States. There is no single test available to diagnose the disease, and it can go undetected or misdiagnosed until its symptoms—tremors, changes in speech and balance issues—become severe.

The drug Levodopa, which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Parkinson’s over 50 years ago and remains the gold standard of treatment, can become less effective as the disease progresses and is often accompanied by severe side effects.

Identifying a Parkinson’s imaging biomarker, or indicator of the disease process, would be a critical step for detecting the disease early, before irreversible damage to the brain occurs. Not only could a biomarker aid in early diagnosis, but it could allow researchers to speed clinical trials of new therapies, according to study co-investigator Andrew Siderowf, the Hurtig-Stern Professor of Neurology at Penn.