2024 PMDC Research Symposium highlights movement disorders research at VCU
By Sean Gorman
The VCU Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center’s 2nd Annual Research Symposium delved deep into studies being conducted across campus and beyond to reveal more insights into understanding and treating movement disorders and related neurological conditions.
About 75 people attended the June 14 event at the VCU College of Health Professions building in downtown Richmond. The symposium featured presentations from researchers who
have received PMDC Pilot Grants, which help fund studies that seek to better understand movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease as well as other neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Over the last several years, the center has provided nearly
$750,000 in funding for 16 innovative pilot grant studies to date.
“The symposium is a chance to promote the incredible research going on under the PMDC umbrella,” says Bonnie Mahl, PMDC’s senior community engagement and outreach coordinator. “It offers researchers a space to present their findings, and it’s a way to showcase movement disorders studies happening on the VCU campus as well as with collaborators from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the College of William & Mary.”
The 2024 symposium featured more than a third more speakers and poster presentations than the prior year, Mahl notes.
PMDC Director Brian Berman, M.D., welcomed attendees before turning the microphone over to eight presenters. Among the speakers were Sarah Lageman, Ph.D., a PMDC neuropsychologist who examined group-based intervention to treat insomnia in patients living with Parkinson’s Disease, and Gang Zhou, Ph.D., with William & Mary’s Department of Computer Science, who discussed findings from a study that examined brain cell firing changes associated with freezing of gait in Parkinson’s patients.
Other speakers were from the PMDC and from a broader VCU community, including speakers from the Departments of Surgery, Biology, Neurosurgery and Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science.
Following the speaker sessions, attendees mingled with each other and with 14 basic science and clinical translational researchers who presented their scientific posters in the building’s lobby. Poster topics ranged from rat models of Parkinson’s disease to the development of a clinical research ataxia program, which was presented by PMDC movement disorders neurologist Stephanie Bissonnette, D.O. Other posters examined how to improve caregiver-Alzheimer’s patient relationships, the development of a clinic for veterans who have movement disorders and investigation of novel deep brain stimulation targets to improve cognition.
“People attending come from different colleges across VCU’s campus, so the symposium offers opportunities for networking and further collaboration,” Mahl says.