Parkinson's disease significantly impacts various aspects of communication, and this can make it challenging for people with the disease to communicate effectively, be understood by others, and engage in social situations. Dr. Gemma Moya-Galé joins this episode to talk about her work on voice and communication in people with Parkinson’s disease. In particular, she discusses a novel app she and her team are developing, with funding from The Michael J. Fox Foundation, to help people with Parkinson’s improve how well their speech is understood. The app uses evidence-based principles from speech therapy and noise-augmented automatic speech recognition to provide speech training and feedback. She also shares her recent research on linguistically and culturally responsive methods for addressing communication challenges in both English- and Spanish-speaking individuals with Parkinson's disease, and how this approach has the potential to improve clinical care. Gemma is an Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders, as well as the Director of the Communication, Technology, and Language Diversity Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University.

This podcast is geared toward researchers and clinicians. If you live with Parkinson’s or have a friend or family member with PD, listen to The Michael J. Fox Foundation Parkinson’s Podcast at michaeljfox.org/podcasts. We’re excited to announce that we will be merging our two podcasts in 2025, and we invite you to subscribe to our Michael J. Fox Foundation Parkinson’s Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts for future episodes featuring scientists, doctors and people with Parkinson's talking about different aspects of life with the disease as well as new research toward treatment breakthroughs.

Certain populations are disproportionately affected by neurological diseases, including Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases. A lot of work remains to be done to improve brain health outcomes and promote healthy brain aging across the lifespan, particularly for minoritized, underrepresented populations. Including participants from diverse backgrounds in research helps ensure that the results from studies and clinical trials in the field are valid, generalizable, and representative of all individuals affected by these diseases.

In this episode, Dr. Monica Rivera-Mindt discusses brain health inequities in neurodegenerative diseases, her work using culturally informed community-engaged research methods to improve representation in research studies, important gaps in the literature, lessons learned from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) Diversity Task Force that could be applied in Parkinson's disease research, and more. Monica is Professor of Psychology, Latinx studies, and African and African American studies at Fordham University, and she has a joint appointment as Professor of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is also a board-certified neuropsychologist.

This podcast is geared toward researchers and clinicians. If you live with Parkinson’s or have a friend or family member with PD, listen to The Michael J. Fox Foundation Parkinson’s Podcast. Hear from scientists, doctors and people with Parkinson's on different aspects of life with the disease as well as research toward treatment breakthroughs at https://www.michaeljfox.org/podcasts.

Alpha-synuclein plays a key role in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease, and researchers have been investigating this protein as a therapeutic target and also as a potential biomarker for the disease. The alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay, developed by Dr. Claudio Soto and colleagues, leverages the self-replicating nature of the misfolded alpha-synuclein proteins that form aggregates in Parkinson's disease. Amplifying misfolded alpha-synuclein can allow researchers and clinicians to detect the presence of the pathological form of the protein in biospecimens, even when the amount of misfolded alpha-synuclein in a sample is very low. In this episode, Claudio discusses his work in this area and how it has opened the doors for a variety of potential uses of the alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay, including applications in diagnosis, clinical trials, and drug development for Parkinson's disease.

This year, Claudio received the 2024 Robert A. Pritzker Prize for Leadership in Parkinson’s Research for his substantial contributions to research and his commitment to mentoring the next generation of scientists in the field. Claudio is the Huffington’s Distinguished University Chair, Professor of Neurology, and Director of the George and Cynthia Mitchell Center for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Brain Disorders at The University of Texas Medical School in Houston. He is also the Founder, Vice-President, and Chief Scientific Officer at AMPRION Inc.

This podcast is geared toward researchers and clinicians. If you live with Parkinson’s or have a friend or family member with PD, listen to The Michael J. Fox Foundation Parkinson’s Podcast. Hear from scientists, doctors and people with Parkinson's on different aspects of life with the disease as well as research toward treatment breakthroughs at https://www.michaeljfox.org/podcasts.