The mission of the Parkinson Study Group is to advance knowledge about the cause(s), pathogenesis and clinical impact of Parkinson disease and related disorders and to develop and implement scientific strategies to examine promising therapeutic interventions.
The Mentored Clinical Research Award is funded by grants from the Parkinson’s Foundation and Sunovion to the Parkinson Study Group (PSG). The purpose of this grant is to support patient-oriented clinical research in Parkinson’s disease (PD) or other parkinsonian disorders in order to address the unmet needs of people living with these conditions.
Level of Support: $100,000 for 1 year – This funding can be used however necessary to support the completion of the project. A detailed budget is required with the application.
Coming Summer 2023 . . . .
Eligibility:
Application Process
Applications will be reviewed by the PSG Mentorship Committee according to the criteria and timelines described. Successful applicants will be required to submit a short written summary of progress at six months and at one year after funding. The awardee will be required to attend a future (TBD) annual PSG meeting in order to present the results of their research, with meeting expense to be supported by the PSG separate from the grant award.
Dr. Mitra Afshari is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Rush University in Chicago, IL, Division of Movement Disorders Neurology where she works as a clinician, deep brain stimulation specialist, young investigator, and Associate Fellowship Director. Mitra is originally from Chicago, where she completed her undergraduate (Biomedical Engineering), medical school, and residency training at Northwestern University. She completed her fellowship at the University of California – San Francisco (UCSF), where she received comprehensive training in neuromodulation for Movement Disorders and her research interest in technology-enabled care blossomed under the auspices of Drs. Nicholas Galifianakis, Caroline Tanner, and Jill Ostrem. Mitra’s research career goal is to become an independent health services researcher, interfacing technology and clinical care to develop innovative and accessible clinical care solutions for patients with Parkinson’s Disease. This goal reflects her training in Biomedical Engineering, Public Health, and Movement Disorders Neurology. The project Mitra will be working on, under the fine mentorship of Dr. Christopher Goetz, involves the testing of a novel and innovative telemedicine-based protocol to improve home safety and prevent falls in PD patients. The data from this project is informing a larger trial for fall prevention for which she has submitted an NIH K23 proposal.