Allison is a neuroscientist who is a first year Neuroscience PhD student at Kent State University. Her first introduction to Parkinson’s was actually through her grandmother, who passed away 4 years ago. Allison saw her grandmother struggle with the diagnosis, as well as being diagnosed with dementia. This sparked her desire to be in the medical field. However, she saw a real need for the research side of medicine, developing new therapeutics and better ways to diagnose people. She wanted to help push our medical system forward and help patients receive better and more effective treatment.

Allison spent some time at UPenn, working at the center for neurodegenerative disease research under Virginia Lee. Virginia first discovered the protein that is the response for PD, alpha synuclein. Allison’s main role was to make an artificial protein of alpha synuclein to see how the protein worked in different tissues. They would take the artificial protein and inject it in mice and study the effects.

Allison also had the opportunity to partner with the Michael J Fox foundation to perform quality control on the artificial proteins they were making. They partnered with a start-up biotech company in the UK to test the brains of different animals who received various experimental drugs to determine if they could reduce PD pathology. Allison shared that these partnerships in research are so crucial to produce quality research to ensure the results are as accurate as possible. Allison talked about other research projects that are in the works, like coming up with a diagnostic tool involving a saliva sample or cerebral spinal fluid that would work towards prolonging and improving the quality of life in those with PD. It’s safe to say that we are all very grateful that there are people like Allison in the world!

I asked Allison if she has any advice for people with PD and she shared that the most important thing is to be proactive. According to Allison, research shows that you can have Parkinson’s for 20-30 years before any motor symptoms appear. If you are noticing any mild motor symptoms or you have a family member with PD or you are experiencing sleep changes, be proactive. Improve your diet, regularly exercise, take care of your health to minimize your risk and improve your quality of life. Come up with a plan early on of how to manage the day to day and ask for help. Allison also wanted to share that if you have PD and there are younger family members, don’t dance around the diagnosis. Try to explain what you are going through because they can understand what is going on. Allison recalled being a bit afraid of her grandmother because no one really talked about what was happening. She believes that the education and openness could have helped her feel more connected to her grandmother.

Last but not least, if your family member or loved one with PD has cognitive impairments, make an effort to include them even for something as simple as sharing a meal. Allison recalled a time where she tried to recreate a family recipe of carrot cookies for her grandmother at a time where she was nonverbal due to cognitive decline. Allison tried to get her grandmother to eat a cookie for what seemed like an hour. After she finally ate it her grandmother said “hmmmm carrot cookies.” Those were the first words she spoke in months. “Even if someone feels like they are checked out it doesn’t mean that they aren’t completely there. You never know when they will come back. You tend to lose your humanity, the worst thing is taking that away from them.”