I am a part-time PhD student researching Parkinson’s disease, and a part-time physician specializing in geriatrics.
Parkinson’s disease primarily affects dopaminergic neurons in the brain. The standard treatment is Levodopa, a precursor to dopamine. While Levodopa is effective in alleviating symptoms during the early stages of the disease, its effectiveness tends to decline over time. One key reason is that the therapeutic window becomes increasingly narrow as the disease progresses. This makes dosing challenging, patients may be overtreated at times, and undertreated at others, leading to fluctuations in symptoms and quality of life. In my research I am using mathematical models to analyze how dopamine levels vary over time. In particular, I’m investigating how serotonergic neurons, under certain conditions, may release dopamine and contribute to the challenges when treating late stage Parkinson’s disease.