As a world leader in research on neurological disorders, including PD, the NINDS supports a wide range of basic laboratory studies and clinical trials at its Bethesda, Maryland , location and at grantee institutions around the world. Through these and other research projects, scientists are moving ever closer to unraveling the mysteries of PD. For patients and their families, this research should offer encouragement and hope for the future.

The NINDS also supports 11 Morris K. Udall Parkinson’s Disease Research Centers of Excellence throughout the country.  The Centers’ multidisciplinary research environment allows scientists to take advantage of new discoveries in the basic and technological sciences that could lead to clinical advances.  Most of the Centers also provide state-of-the-art training for young scientists preparing for research careers investigating PD and related neurological disorders.  Among other ics, the Centers carry out studies of genes, of proteins involved in cell death and degeneration, and of the brain chemicals involved in PD.  They also study the brain using PET brain scans and test potential PD treatments in animals.   The NINDS hopes that research at these Centers of Excellence will lead to clinical trials of new therapies in humans with PD.