UC Denver doctors earn grant for Parkinson's research

Curt Freed (left) and Wenbo Zhou (right)

University of Colorado Denver faculty Curt Freed, M.D., and Wenbo Zhou, Ph.D., won a grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation to test new clinical strategies for treating Parkinson's disease.

Freed and Zhou discovered that a drug called phenylbutyrate, approved for treating a form of liver disease, can prevent brain deterioration of Parkinson's disease in animals. The two men will use the grant to study the drug in 12 patients to see whether it can increase the levels of Parkinson's-preventing genes.

To date, the Fox Foundation has funded $149 million in Parkinson's research in the form of its Rapid Response Innovation Awards and associated projects.