CHRONIC NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES

Chronic neurological diseases (Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, movement disorders, neuromuscular disease, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy) afflict millions of Americans worldwide and account for tremendous morbidity and mortality. Although treatments have been sought for these diseases, presently they are inadequate. The University of Florida McKnight Brain Institute has defined as one of its “cores” the treatment and cure of chronic neurological diseases. The institute has marked this area for special emphasis in its innovative clinical-translational-research plan. This core will attempt to make as many patients as possible at the University of Florida, potential research patients. The core will attempt to link these patients in large well-characterized patient registries with pathological tissue (in the McKnight human-brain bank), imaging studies (on one of many multi-Tesla magnets housed in the institute), genetic material (from UF patients placed in the National Institutes of Health Registry), and to a blood and tissue cryopreservation bank. The core will “push” therapies from the laboratory into the operating room, and into its newly constructed clinical trials center. Additionally, the core will be devoted to developing new technologies, new treatments, and innovative regenerative medicine techniques with the ultimate goal to ease the suffering of patients with chronic neurological diseases.