Dr. Ron Tjalkens

Dr. Ron Tjalkens and Michael J. Fox have a common goal – to cure Parkinson’s disease. For Fox, that meant the establishment and building of a philanthropic foundation that generously funds cutting-edge research into Parkinson’s disease. For Dr. Tjalkens, it means a busy laboratory dedicated to finding novel therapeutics that may help slow down the progression of the disease until a cure can be found.

It’s that common goal, and the funding of Dr. Tjalkens research by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, that brought Dr. Tjalkens to New York City on Oct. 26, where he was one of a select group of speakers at the Fifth Annual Parkinson’s Disease Therapeutics Conference – a rare distinction for anyone west of the Mississippi. Dr. Tjalken’s spoke on, “Targeting Glia in Parkinson’s Disease with Novel Anti-inflammatory Therapeutics.” The conference was presented by the Michael J. Fox Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences.

“It’s an honor to have our work recognized and funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research,” said Dr. Tjalkens. “Our approach to the disease is definitely unique, and we have some exciting drug developments in our laboratory that may one day help to slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease, giving patients a better quality of life for a longer period of time.”

Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that affects one in 100 people over the age of 60. Chronic inflammation of the brain damages nerve cells and currently no therapies can prevent that damage. While the average age of onset is 60, people have been diagnosed as young as 18. Recent research indicates that at least one million people in the United States, and more than five million worldwide, are living with Parkinson’s.

Parkinson's disease belongs to a group of conditions called motor system disorders The four primary symptoms of Parkinson’s are tremor, or trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face; rigidity, or stiffness of the limbs and trunk; bradykinesia, or slowness of movement; and postural instability, or impaired balance and coordination. As these symptoms become more pronounced, patients may have difficulty walking, talking, or completing other simple tasks.

“With our first grant from the Fox foundation, we were able to look at some new approaches to the treatment of Parkinson’s disease using compounds that we developed with colleagues at Texas A&M,” said Dr. Tjalkens, an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences. “Our initial results looked promising and this year we received a second grant from the Fox Foundation to begin a new phase of the project. These additional funds are giving us the opportunity to expand the size of the project to not only look at efficacies in animal models, but also to look at preclinical work.”

The research in Dr. Tjalkens laboratory focuses on glial cells, an emerging field in neurobiology. Glial cells are non-neuronal cells that maintain homeostasis, form myeline, and provide support and protection for the brain’s neurons. Glial cells vastly outnumber neurons and researchers are only just beginning to explore the role glial cells play in the pathology of neurological disorders. It’s unknown if malfunctioning inflammatory signaling in glial cells can actually damage neurons, or if the glial cells are responding to damaged neurons. Active projects in Dr. Tjalkens’ laboratory explore both the regulation of inflammatory signaling in glial cells and molecular targets for new therapeutic approaches designed to mitigate inflammatory injury and perhaps slow down Parkinson’s advancing symptoms.

“Because Parkinson’s is typically a disease of older adults, if we can add five to 10 years of a high-quality life, that would transform the face of the disease,” said Dr. Tjalkens. “If we could slow down the progression and preserve function, then patients could stay on lower levels of drug therapies for much longer, and benefit from those therapies for a longer period of time. Slowing down progression would also give us more time to study regenerative therapies that may one day offer hope for a cure.”

Dr. Tjalkens noted that his laboratory has been able to make advances because of the investment of the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

“But for the willingness of the Fox Foundation to take a chance on Colorado State University, our work didn’t have a chance of moving forward,” said Dr. Tjalkens. “Now, we hope to use our positive results to secure funds from the National Institutes of Health and greatly increase the speed at which we are able to make progress in our research.”