Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Neurodegenerative Movement Disorders are a group of disorders, such as Parkinson's disease (PD) which feature the progressive onset of motor symptoms caused by degeneration of neurons in the basal ganglia. My project seeks to address current limitations in our assessment and understanding of NMD through the exploration of a group of early-onset, genetic NMD known as Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation(NBIA). Specifically, my research focuses on Phospholipase A2G6 Associated Neurodegeneration (PLAN)a NMD classified as both NBIA and PD.My Master's research will:1) Investigate the biological mechanisms of NBIA. In a mouse model of PLAN, I will investigate how the presentation of neurodegenerative symptoms in the mice relates to signs and markers of the identified hallmarks of NMD. This investigation will involve: I) Measuring motor symptoms over the course of the disease progression,II) Neuroimaging of the dopaminergic neurons of the basal gangliaIII) Cerebrospinal fluid, blood and neuronal tissue will be collected to measure biomarkers. 2) Discover novel biomarkers for NBIA that may be correlated to novel mechanistic markers found in #1; thus validating novel biomarkers of NBIA. Plasma and serum samples from NBIA patients are currently being collected. I will analyze a panel of plasma proteins using Multiplex Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) Proteomics. Measurements of inflammatory cytokines as well as markers of oxidative damage to lipids and iron burden will also be performed. Results will be compared to matched controls to further validate potential biomarkers.My Research offers the opportunity to link clinical biomarkers measured in NBIA patients with biological processes observed in a model of NBIA.