News Release

Penn Medicine at the International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Penn Medicine researchers will be among the featured presenters at the 18th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders in Stockholm, Sweden, from Sunday, June 8 to Thursday, June 12, 2014.

Matthew Stern, MD, director of the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center in the Department of Neurology and current president of the International Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Society, will chair a plenary session entitled "New insights into the pathology, progression, and heterogeneity of Parkinson's disease."

John Q. Trojanowski, MD, PhD, director of the Penn Institute on Aging and Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research co-director, will describe the latest animal models that recapitulate the different alpha-synuclein pathologies in Parkinson's disease (PD) (Abstract #898).

Virginia M.Y. Lee, PhD, CNDR director, will present the use of how these PD animal models are being used in preclinical studies to test the efficacy of immunotherapy as well as to understand how the different types of alpha-synuclein pathologies may be responsible for the variations in the clinical presentations of PD (Abstract #56).

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Penn Medicine researchers and clinicians will be available to comment on these and other topics at the Congress, as well as by phone or email. To arrange interviews, please contact: Karen Kreeger, 215-459-0544, Karen.kreeger@uphs.upenn.edu

Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 17 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $392 million awarded in the 2013 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; Chester County Hospital; Penn Wissahickon Hospice; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional affiliated inpatient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region include Chestnut Hill Hospital and Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2013, Penn Medicine provided $814 million to benefit our community.


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