The IND physicians and staff are proud to be involved actively in clinical research to improve our understanding of Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders as well as to develop new treatments. Several members of our research team are members of the Parkinson’s Study Group (PSG) and the Huntington’s Study Group (HSG). The PSG and HSG are a network of physicians and other health care providers with a mission to advance knowledge about the causes and impacts of these diseases, as well as to develop more effective treatments.

Clinical trials of new medications and other therapies are critical to establishing that these therapies are safe and effective. IND is conducting numerous clinical trials in Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, cervical dystonia and related disorders. These trials include both medications to treat the symptoms and medications to modify the rate of progression of Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Our trials can only be carried out with the cooperation and consent of human research participants.

For those newly diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease (PD):

JNK Inhibitor: An agent with properties that may slow the rate of progression of Parkinson’s disease.

TCH346: An agent that shows promise in slowing down the disease process of Parkinson’s disease and the development of symptoms.

Sumanirole: A new dopamine agonist that is being evaluated and compared to a currently available dopamine agonist.

Development of clinical markers in PD: Speech and Cognitive tests combined with [¹²³I] ß-CIT and SPECT imaging in an effort to develop more objective clinical evaluation tools for PD.

 

For individuals with PD and experiencing motor fluctuations:

Rotigotine Patch: A dopamine agonist that is administered as a patch aimed at reducing “off” time in those with motor fluctuations.

Adenosine A2A Antagonist: A new agent being studied to determine if it is effective in reducing “off” time in patients with fluctuations.

Triple combination therapy: Carbidopa, Levodopa and Entacapone in one tablet to improve the duration of symptomatic effect from the Levodopa.

 

For those with a family history of PD:

PROGENI: A study of siblings affected or possibly affected with PD to further our understanding of the genetics of PD.

A study using [¹²³I] ß-CIT and SPECT in those at risk for PD due to a family history of PD.

 

The following studies are underway to improve evaluation and diagnosis:

Voice: Speech evaluation

ANAM: Computerized cognitive evaluation

Spiral: Computerized handwriting evaluation

Query: Imaging evaluation for those with unclear diagnosis

For those at risk for Huntington's Disease (HD):

PHAROS: An observational study being conducted across North America in those at risk for HD to determine the earliest signs of HD and to develop better tests for evaluating early signs of HD.

For those diagnose with Huntington Disease

TREND-HD: is designed to determine the effect of ethyl-EPA on the motor (movement) signs and symptoms of HD.

Myobloc study: To evaluate the safety, effectiveness and antigenicity (development of resistance) of repeat doses of Myobloc in those with cervical dystonia.

Botox Study: To evaluate the safety, effectiveness and antigenicity (development of resistance) of repeat doses of Botox in those with cervical dystonia.