Connect Sign InEmerging Treatments for Parkinson’s Disease: Adaptive DBS, Gene, and Cell Therapy
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor and nonmotor symptoms (autonomic, cognitive, and psychiatric). We will review emerging therapeutic strategies across deep brain stimulation (DBS), cell therapy, and gene therapy. First, DBS uses implanted intracranial electrodes to deliver chronic electrical stimulation aimed at normalizing network function. Recent devices enable real-time neural recording and adaptive stimulation that responds to sensed biomarkers. Second, we will examine efforts to rebuild dopaminergic circuitry using autologous dopaminergic cell transplantation. Finally, we will discuss gene therapy, with a focus on AAV2-mediated GDNF delivery, to support surviving dopaminergic neurons and potentially slow degeneration.
Dr. Todd Herrington is a movement disorders neurologist, neurophysiologist, and the director of the Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) program at Massachusetts General Hospital. He completed his MD through the Health Sciences and Technology program and his PhD through the Neuroscience program at Harvard Medical School. Herrington completed a residency at the Mass General Brigham Neurology program, where he was chief resident, followed by fellowship training in movement disorders and intraoperative neurophysiology.
Dr. Herrington has a focused clinical practice caring for patients with movement disorders and a clinical-translational research program aimed at understanding the mechanisms of DBS, the development of adaptive approaches to stimulation, and the translation of that work into new, more effective treatments. In addition, he collaborates to advance gene and cell therapy approaches to treat neurodegenerative disease.
