b'AT THE CELLULAR ROOT OF PD 2019 Weiner Family Memorial Lecture Focuses on Genetic Causes of Parkinsons DiseaseJoshua M. Shulman,of the lysosome and may MD, PhD believes helead to the accumulation may have tracked oneof proteins like Alpha-potential cause forsynuclein, which inParkinsons diseaseturn may be why they (PD)the debilitatingcause PD.neurodegenerativeDr. Shulmans lecture also disorder that affectsfocused on how studies nearly one millionof human populations, Americansto its lairin terms of human inside the human neurongenetic discovery, can be (brain cell). He describedcombined with functional these research findingsexperimental studies in to a large audience asmodel organisms, in order the featured speaker atto better understand how the 2019 Weiner FamilyNeurology Chair Dr. Peter Crino with Drs. Lisa Shulman and Joshua Shulman atgenes actually work to Memorial Lecture, heldthe 2019 Weiner Family Memorial Lecture affect disease risks.at the University of Maryland School of90% of my time doing research inWere still trying to do a Medicine on April 3, 2019. a laboratory setting, studying thevariety of experiments to confirm and For Dr. Shulman, Associate Professorgenetics of both Parkinsons andsolidify our understanding of what of Neurology, Neuroscience, andAlzheimers disease. we think is going on in this regard, Molecular & Human Genetics atIn his lecture, Functional Genomicsays Dr. Shulman. Weve done human Baylor College of Medicine, as wellDissection of the Lysosome ingenetic analyses that have looked at as Principal Investigator in theParkinsons Disease, he described54 different genes that are related to Jan and Dan Duncan Neurologicalhow in exploring the geneticlysosomal dysfunction. Our analyses Research Institute at Texas Childrensarchitecture of Parkinsons diseasestrongly suggest that among those Hospital, the occasion also markedhe and his colleagues made genetic54 genes, there are new Parkinsons a kind of homecoming. His mother,discoveries relevant to PD thatdisease risk factors,but we dont Lisa M. Shulman, MD, Professor ofimplicate a certain biological processyet know which of these genes are Neurology, is the Director of thewithin the neurona process thatresponsible. His investigation is University of Maryland Parkinsoninvolves a part of the cell calledcurrently experimenting with fruit Disease and Movement Disordersthe lysosome, which is important inflies to determine which of the 54 Center. His stepfather, the latecontrolling the levels of many proteinsidentified genes are causal for disease William J. Weiner, MD, was ain the neuron.risks. But as PD is a complex genetic professor and chair of UMSOMsdisease, its unlikely that a single gene Department of Neurology, as well asWhen the lysosome is dysfunctional,is responsible, he notes, so were an internationally recognized clinicalit can lead to the accumulation ofreally interested in understanding how investigator, neurologic educator, andproteins, which creates a stress onmany genes can interact with one prolific author on Parkinsons diseasethe cell, he explains. In PD, a certainanother to affect the risk of disease.and other movement disorders. Theprotein called Alpha-synuclein isWhile gratified that his talk was Weiner Family Memorial Lectureknown to accumulate, which is toxicwell-received, Dr. Shulman also was originally established by Dr. Lisato neurons. And thats the definingacknowledged that the occasion was Shulman and her husband to honor Dr.pathology of Parkinsons disease. Dr.poignant for him. Bill Weiner was Weiners parents; it now memorializesShulmans lab has been conductinga real teacher for me. His mentorship Dr. Weiner as well. studies on what genetic risks figure inwas a major driver of my interest Parkinsons disease. We and othersin neurology and for my career Like my mother and Bill Weiner,have found a number of genetictrajectory. While Im interested in Im also a movement disordersrisk factors that strongly point togenetics, Im still staying in the family neurologist, but my focus is mainly onthe lysosome, he says. Whenbusiness, he smiles.Parkinsons disease within movementthese particular genetic variants are disorders, says Dr. Shulman. I spendinherited, they disrupt the function CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES UPDATEFALL 2019 7'