Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Three similar neurological disorders will be studied: multiple system atrophy (MSA), Parkinson's disease (PD), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). These three disorders are all characterized by aggregates of a protein called alpha-synuclein; however, these aggregates are found in different regions of the brain in each of the disorders. This is thought to contribute to the slightly different clinical symptoms observed in these neurological disorders. I hypothesize that genetic, epigenetic (changes to DNA that do not change the actual DNA sequence), and gene expression differences influence which brain region is affected and, thus, which disorder is presented. Therefore, I aim to compare these genetic, epigenetic, and expression changes across each affected brain region in patients with MSA, PD, and DLB. If there are differences among the three neurological disorders, these results could have a significant impact on the diagnosis and treatment of these disorders. There is currently no biological test to diagnose MSA, PD, or DLB; thus, diagnosis is based solely on clinical features and misdiagnosis is common. Consequently, neurologists cannot easily prescribe medications that target the specific disorder correctly, so prescribed medications may have no benefit and may even be detrimental if they are meant to treat a different disorder. If there are distinct genetic, epigenetic, and expression differences among these three disorders that can be easily measured in a laboratory test, this would provide a more accurate diagnosis and allow for more effective treatment that targets the specific neurological disorder.