Summary: A multi-institutional research team secured a $9 million grant to study how immune-cell aging impacts Parkinson’s disease. The study will investigate how cellular “burnout” drives the stark differences in disease risk and progression among patients. By mapping these immune system changes, the project aims to uncover precise biomarkers and pioneer customized, oncology-style immunotherapies to intercept neurodegeneration early.
Key Facts
- Immune-Cell “Burnout” Focus: The study investigates immune-cell exhaustion—a state where aging immune networks lose their functional capacity—to see how it triggers or accelerates neurodegeneration.
- Personalized Neurology Paradigm: Researchers aim to mirror the cancer field’s precision medicine model, tracking distinct immune profiles to tailor therapies to an individual’s unique biological baseline.
- Shedding Light on Heterogeneity: By analyzing immune variations, the team hopes to explain why Parkinson’s manifests and progresses so differently from one patient to another.
- Massive Economic Framework: The research addresses a critical public health crisis; Parkinson’s impacts over 1.1 million Americans and incurred an annual economic burden of $82 billion in 2024 alone.
- Open-Science Global Toolkit: Managed by an internal biostatistics data core, the team will generate high-quality, standardized resources for the global research community to reduce technical hurdles in drug development.
Source: Indiana University
A new cutting-edge research team, led by Indiana University School of Medicine scientists and interdisciplinary experts from multiple universities, will investigate the role of immune cell aging on Parkinson’s disease risk and progression. Specifically, the group will study immune-cell exhaustion in idiopathic and familial forms of Parkinson’s cases.
Malú Gámez Tansey, PhD, professor of neurology at IU School of Medicine, will serve as lead primary investigator on the project, which is funded by a generous $9 million grant.
Tansey and her team have been selected to join the Collaborative Research Network, an international, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional network working to address high-priority research questions about Parkinson’s disease, through a grant awarded by Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP), in partnership with The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF).
ASAP is expanding the CRN to map the biological blueprint of Parkinson’s disease and build a standardized toolkit of global research resources needed to turn discoveries into treatments. This next phase of the initiative focuses on understanding the heterogeneity of Parkinson’s disease, why it varies across individuals, and advancing discoveries toward more precise diagnostics and future therapies. This effort includes the generation of novel resources for the global research community to work from a common, high-quality baseline, reducing the technical hurdles that stall drug development.
Age is the greatest risk factor for Parkinson’s disease. While immune-cell exhaustion occurs naturally as individuals age, its direct relation to Parkinson’s disease remains underexplored.
The team will also explore whether lifestyle and environmental factors play a role in developing the disease, which affects more than 1.1 million people in the U.S. and cost $82 billion in annual U.S. healthcare, disability, productivity and caregiving burden in 2024 alone.
“The ultimate goal is to leverage knowledge of immune system aging to identify individuals at greater risk for Parkinson’s disease and then target the dysregulated processes in those individuals with treatments designed specifically for them, in ways similar to what the cancer field does today,” Tansey said.
Tansey’s leadership team includes several renowned experts on Parkinson’s and aging: Rebecca Wallings, DPhil, assistant professor of neurology at IU School of Medicine; Elizabeth Bradshaw, PhD, Adler Assistant Professor of Neurological Sciences and co-director of The Carol and Gene Ludwig Center for Research on Neurodegeneration in the Department of Neurology at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons; Richard Smeyne, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Thomas Jefferson University and director of Jefferson Health’s Comprehensive Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder Center; and Catherine Weindel, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine.
“Parkinson’s disease is complex enough that no single institution can answer these questions alone. This collaboration between Jefferson, IU, Tulane and Columbia brings together complementary expertise in immunology, neuroscience, biostatistics and clinical care in a way that genuinely accelerates discovery. The Smeyne lab’s role in this collaboration reflects our commitment to research that moves from findings in the pre-clinical laboratory to the patient as efficiently as possible,” Smeyne said.
“What excites me most about this project is its power of collaboration,” Weindel said. “Combining our expertise in neuroscience, neuroimmunology and immunology will give a richer, more complete picture of how immune system aging could contribute to Parkinson’s disease. I’m even hopeful that this work might give Parkinson’s disease researchers a launch point to direct future immunotherapies.”
Wallings’ lab will study the “burn out” of immune cells over time as it possibly relates to Parkinson’s in hopes of identifying the disease earlier, tracking its progression more accurately and ultimately developing treatments that target harmful immune changes.
“Parkinson’s disease is very different from one person to another, and we still do not fully understand why,” Wallings said. “By studying immune-cell exhaustion and biological immune aging, we hope to uncover new clues about what drives these differences and identify measurable markers that could help predict disease progression or response to treatment.”
Travis S. Johnson, PhD, assistant professor of Biostatistics & Health Data Science at IU School of Medicine, will serve as the project’s data manager and collaborating primary investigator. Andrea R. Merchak, PhD, assistant research professor of neurology, and Nicole R. Fowler, PhD, Klapper Family Scholar in Aging and Family Caregiving Research, will also contribute from IU.
Key Questions Answered:
A: Immune-cell exhaustion, often referred to as cellular “burnout,” occurs when immune cells are exposed to prolonged, continuous stress or aging, causing them to lose their ability to fight off threats or regulate inflammation properly. While age is universally recognized as the single greatest risk factor for Parkinson’s disease, the exact role this immune breakdown plays in brain degradation is still a mystery. Researchers believe that exhausted immune cells may either fail to protect vulnerable neurons or accidentally cause chronic, harmful inflammation that accelerates the disease.
A: Parkinson’s disease is highly heterogeneous, meaning it behaves very differently across individuals, some experience rapid motor decline, while others experience slow progression or prominent non-motor symptoms. By studying both idiopathic (no known cause) and familial (inherited) cases alongside environmental and lifestyle factors, the team will analyze how unique variations in a person’s immune aging profile correlate with their specific symptoms. Uncovering these distinct biological signatures will reveal the underlying drivers behind these individual differences.
A: In modern oncology, doctors do not just treat “cancer” as a single disease; instead, they sequence a patient’s tumor and immune system to pick a therapy designed precisely for their specific genetic and cellular profile. Dr. Tansey’s team wants to bring this exact model to neurology. By finding measurable immune markers in blood or spinal fluid, clinicians could eventually screen aging populations, identify exactly which underlying biological systems are misbehaving in an individual, and prescribe targeted immunotherapies before widespread neurological damage occurs.
Editorial Notes:
- This article was edited by a Neuroscience News editor.
- Journal paper reviewed in full.
- Additional context added by our staff.
About this Parkinson’s disease research news
Author: Rory Appleton
Source: Indiana University
Contact: Rory Appleton – Indiana University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
