The Silverstein Foundation Launches Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program to Fund Novel Research for Parkinson’s Disease in GBA Mutation Carriers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Silverstein Foundation for Parkinson’s with GBA (“Silverstein Foundation”) today announced the creation of a two-year, post-doctoral fellowship program that will fund eleven scientists engaged in cutting-edge research on Parkinson’s disease in GBA mutation carriers (GBA-PD) in academic and hospital-based laboratories around the world. These institutions include Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital (The Neuro), Mount Sinai Health System, Northwestern University, University of Oxford, Stanford University, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, The Ottawa Hospital Institute, and the University of Maryland Medical Center.

“The goal of this two-year program is to fund the next generation of elite researchers who will devote their time to finding novel, diverse approaches to analyze, prevent and treat GBA-PD,” said Jonathan Silverstein, founder of the Silverstein Foundation and a retired Managing Partner and former Co-Head of Private Equity at OrbiMed.

Silverstein added, “These researchers will meet regularly to collaborate and share findings with each other. Furthermore, these findings will be made public to the broader GBA-PD community through publications and presentations at scientific conferences worldwide. This program will further our goal of accelerating research and finding a cure for GBA-PD.”

Areas of exploration will include, but not be limited to, novel assay development, new animal models, alpha-synuclein disaggregators and inhibitors, lysosomal biology, genetic modifiers, neurolipidomics, bioinformatics, glucocerebrosidase activators, cell therapies and neuroinflammation.

“We are thrilled to be a part of this research consortium and are hopeful that the Silverstein fellowship program will expand collaboration in GBA-PD research as well as bring new innovative approaches to the broader scientific field,” said Ziv Gan-Or, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, Department of Human Genetics, McGill University.

About The Silverstein Foundation for Parkinson’s with GBA

The Silverstein Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2017 by Jonathan Silverstein, following his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. After a decades-long career helping develop treatments for diseases through the formation of new biotech companies, he has turned his focus and resources to discovering new therapies for Parkinson’s disease with glucocerebrosidase (GBA1) mutations. Since inception, this organization has made more than 40 grants to academic institutions and private biotech companies.

For more information about The Silverstein Foundation for Parkinson’s with GBA, please visit https://silversteinfoundation.org/

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