We are very grateful to the funding agencies who support and encourage our work.

Study: Pathological Striatopallidal Neuronal Ensembles in Learned Motor Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease
Funded by: NIH/NINDS R01 NS107734
Goal: To examine the involvement of specific “ensembles” of striatopallidal neurons in mediating learned Parkinsonian motor impairment that underlies the loss of levodopa’s long-duration response.

Study: Striatal Cholinergic Interneurons in Parkinson’s Disease and Treatment
Funded by: NIH/NINDS R01 NS101982
Goal: To examine the biochemical and physiological properties of striatal cholinergic interneurons in mice models of levodopa-induced dyskinesia.

Study: Regulation of Levodopa-induced Dyskinesia by the Substantia Nigra Pars Reticulata (SNr)
Funded by: NIH/NINDS R21 NS108068
Goal: To investigate the functional role of SNr in Parkinson’s disease therapy using DREADD constructs and study the connectivity of SNr to thalamus structures.

Study: Fox Investigation for New Discovery of Biomarkers (BioFIND)
Funded by: A research grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research/NINDS
Goal: To bank biospecimens of a multicenter biomarker cohort of clinically typical Parkinson’s disease to serve as a biomarker discovery platform. Dr. Kang leads the consortium as the lead PI. The study enrollment is over and Dr. Kang's current activity is focused on reviewing bioassay proposals, data analyses coordinating assay results with clinical data, and writing manuscripts in collaboration with scientists who perform the assays.

Study: Cell-type Specific Pedunculopontine Nucleus Physiology in Parkinsonian Gait
Funded by: NIH 1 F32 NS112657-0
Goal: To assess how other neuronal systems interact with the basal ganglia to cause dopamine-resistant symptoms, for example, freezing of gait. NIH funding allows principal investigator Stephanie Alberico, PhD, to provide postdoctoral fellowship support on this project.