The following story appeared in our Fall/Winter 2024 edition of The Fox Focus on Parkinson’s newsletter. For this story and more, download the full edition.

Allie Vaiana, PhD, is a senior scientific portfolio manager on MJFF’s translational research team. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science and a minor in psychology and later completed her PhD in Neuroscience at UT Health San Antonio. In our new researcher spotlight series, we learn more about Allie’s work. 

What is translational research? How is it different from basic or clinical research? 

Translational research is work that can have an early impact in the clinic. We’re answering questions that focus on the human perspective — how can we use our findings to immediately benefit a human clinical trial or even uncover more about human biology? My work addresses questions we don’t currently have answers to about the first signs of Parkinson’s in the body, such as smell loss or constipation. The goal is to better target some of these symptoms, most of which aren’t met by existing therapies, and ultimately prevent them. 

How does your background in studying circuitry in the brain apply to your work in Parkinson’s?  

We all have (mostly) the same brain, and understanding how it works in one disease can also help answer questions in another. Especially when we think about the similarities between Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, ALS and other brain diseases, understanding how certain regions of the brain are affected and the symptoms that manifest across each is very important. Having researchers at MJFF with varied backgrounds allows us to bring different expertise to the table and offer new ways to develop solutions.  

How does the patient perspective inform your work?  

I’m involved in community events, such as MJFF’s Parkinson’s IQ + You, where I interact with patients and see not only the impact that the Foundation can have, but hear the questions patients are asking. I talk to patients who have experienced symptoms I’m working to address. It impacts how we focus on our science and think about what we’re going to fund in the coming years.  

Why is it important to know more about the early signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s? 

With neurological disorders that can have a huge impact on a person’s quality of life, we want to stop them as early as possible. A lot of research that the Foundation has funded in recent years has indicated that PD symptoms start much earlier, before the motor symptoms start to occur.  

If we can better understand early symptoms — like constipation, anxiety and depression — and the related biological processes that lead to motor symptoms, we can intervene earlier.  Our findings will hopefully translate to new and improved treatments.  

What projects are you most excited about?  

We have several new initiatives that we’re launching before the year ends and in early 2025 that will hopefully start to answer the questions that are relevant to not only the therapeutic pipeline, but some of our early biology pipeline.  

We can start to de-risk new proteins, targets and genes that could be important to Parkinson’s. I’m excited about that and the technology that is being developed that allows us to answer these harder questions that five or 10 years ago we couldn’t.