Henry Skelton
BME PhD Proposal Presentation

Date: 2022-09-13
Time: 4PM
Location / Meeting Link: WMRB 5129 / https://emory.zoom.us/j/98835521217

Committee Members:
Robert Gross, MD, PhD; Nicholas Au Yong, MD, PhD; Nassir Mokarram, PhD; Machelle Pardue, PhD; Thomas Wichmann, MD


Title: Reverse Engineering Exercise-Based Neuroprotection in Parkinson’s Disease to Develop Neuromodulatory Therapeutic Approaches

Abstract:
Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease affecting millions of people, known for its characteristic motor symptoms and the associated loss of the dopaminergic cell population of the substantia nigra. While existing treatments can alleviate motor symptoms, there is no established means of protecting or restoring the vulnerable cell population. Physical activity is thought to be protective in PD and the underlying mechanisms could inform the development of disease course modifying therapies. However, these mechanisms are not well understood, in part due to the difficulty of designing effective exercise interventions in animals. This proposal aims to develop an improved exercise platform and use it to reassess the effect of exercise on the nigral dopaminergic cell population, with the hypothesis that exercise will cause neuronal activity changes that induce otherwise dormant cells to adopt a dopaminergic phenotype. Additionally, genetically targeted approaches will be used to test if this exercise-mediated effect is reproducible with neuromodulation and focal lesioning, which may have translational relevance for established circuit therapies