December – a chance to unwind and spend time with family!! With a few trips and Advocacy Items!!

Here are some of the highlights:

On November 26^th through 28^th, ,  I participated in a clinical trial related to the GBA gene at the University of Washington - The Pacific Udall Center is a collaboration among Stanford University, the University of Washington, the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Oregon Health & Science University, and the Portland VA Medical Center. This multidisciplinary program brings together academic, clinical, and research experts in the fields of movement disorders, memory disorders, and brain aging to study cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease.

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On a different note, I am excited about the possibilities:  “Precursors of dopamine-producing cells were implanted into the brain of a Parkinson’s patient for the first time. The patient in Japan is the first of seven to receive this experimental therapy.

The approach uses induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are developed by reprogramming cells collected from the skin or blood of adults so that they revert to a stem cell-like state and are able to differentiate into almost any cell type.”  Source: Parkinson’s News Today