Our Action Chair, Cristoforo Comi, Professor of Neurology at the University of Eastern Piedmont in Italy, participated in the “Inflammation Phenotyping Workshop” organized by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. He was joined by Prof. Marina Romero-Ramos from Aarhus University and Prof. Caroline Williams-Gray from Cambridge University, both members of the Action. Prof. Romero-Ramos also serves as the leader of Working Group 1.
The workshop took place in New York City on November 20th and 21st.
The event aimed to develop a strategy to address the existing biological knowledge gap regarding inflammatory phenotypes involved in the progression of Parkinson’s Disease, focusing on:
- Identifying current research needs for the discovery and characterization of peripheral inflammatory phenotypes in the progression of Parkinson’s Disease;
- Coordinating and aligning feasible strategies, including cohort design, sample collection and storage, and analytical methods to better identify and characterize inflammatory phenotypes;
- Identifying approaches to employ inflammatory phenotypes as biomarkers for patient segmentation.
Parkinson’s Disease, recognized as the second most common neurodegenerative disease globally, currently remains without a cure. In Europe, 1.2 million people are affected. Often mistakenly perceived as a disease of the elderly, Parkinson’s Disease increasingly impacts younger populations, with a growing number of cases diagnosed under the age of 50.
While the role of immunity in the onset of the disease has been well acknowledged, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood.
For this reason, IMMUPARKNET prioritizes efforts to bridge this gap by developing standardized research and treatment approaches informed by the latest advances in preclinical research.
