Research
Our group is active in investigator-initiated and multicentre clinical research. A major interest is magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and spectroscopy, done in collaboration with the MR Research Centre at the University of Alberta. Other areas of focus include evaluating gait and balance changes in PD, and connecting these findings to MR imaging, creating a Parkinson’s Disease Registry with the goal of speeding up research on an open data sharing platform, and evaluating the practicality of systematic depression screening in PD patients receiving care at our center.
With several investigators active in the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging, we are the lead site for the Parkinson’s disease and Lewy Body cohort in the nationwide COMPASS-ND study.
We have been active in the Parkinson Study Group since 1997, participating in numerous studies including REAL-PD, ELLDOPA, TEMPO, PRESTO, PRECEPT, postCEPT, PROGENI, and QE3. We are currently involved in a Duodopa study and a study of Tozadenant for motor fluctuations. We are also a site for the SPARX3 study of exercise for early Parkinson’s.
In addition, we are active with the Canadian Open Parkinson Network (C-OPN) and Huntington Study Group. We have been an active site for the ENROLL-HD study since 2012, and have two gene therapy studies underway.
In the area of DBS, we are involved in research to investigate how cortico-spinal reflex changes under the influence of Parkinson medication and DBS. We also use a computer-based tool to assess patients' decision making in DBS for Parkinson's disease and analyze the outcomes.
