Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease affecting nearly one million Americans. PD patients suffer from debilitating motor symptoms affecting their ability to function, communicate, and care for themselves. PD patients can also suffer from non-motor symptoms including dementia, depression, sleep disorders, and more.

There are currently no interventions that slow the progression of PD, which is why there is a critical need to develop novel disease-modifying therapies for PD.

Goal of pilot

This pilot project aims to develop a novel disease-modifying therapy for PD to slow the progression of PD using existing drugs and technology.

Project plan

The research team executing this pilot plans to utilize an existing drug, terazosin (TZ) to further investigate the effects of TZ on PD patients. Their current research and data has found TZ slows the progression of PD and patients have fewer disease-related complications.

This team will build on their existing research to better understand the biology of metabolism and energetics in PD and how to exploit that with existing and repurposed medication TZ.

Collaboration with ICTS

The research team will utilize expertise from our Mobile Technology Lab to utilize wearable devices and Wii balance boards to track motion in PD patients and our Engagement, Integration, and Implementation Core to engage support groups and other specialists across Iowa.

Team members

• Nandakumar Narayanan, MD, PhD

Vice Chair, Basic and Translational Research

Assistant Director, Clinical Neuroscientist Training Program in Neurology

Associate Professor, Neurology

• Michael Welsh, MD

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Director, Pappajohn Biomedical Institute

Professor, Internal Medicine – Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine

Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics

Professor, Neurosurgery

Professor, Neurology

• Eric Taylor, PhD

Director, Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center Metabolomics Core Facility

Associate Professor, Biochemistry

Associate Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics

• Dan Weeks, PhD

Professor, Biochemistry

Professor, Pediatrics

• Vince Magnotta, PhD

Professor, Radiology

Professor, Psychiatry

Professor, Biomedical Engineering

• Jordan Schultz, PharmD

Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry

Clinical Assistant Professor, Neurology

Clinical Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice and Science – Health Services Research

• Jacob Simmering, PhD

Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine – Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine

• Lei Liu, PhD

Professor, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders