Parkinson's Disease Clinical Trials in Boston, MA

The Parkinson Progression Marker Initiative (PPMI) is a longitudinal, observational, multi-center natural history study to assess progression of clinical features, digital outcomes, and imaging, biologic and genetic markers of Parkinson's disease (PD) progression in study participants with manifest PD, prodromal PD, and healthy controls. The overall goal of PPMI is to identify markers of disease progression for use in clinical trials of therapies to reduce progression of PD disability. Read Less

In this study, researchers will learn more about a study drug called BIIB122 in participants with early-stage Parkinson's disease (PD). In this study: * Participants will take 225 milligrams (mg) of BIIB122 or a placebo as tablets by mouth. A placebo looks like the study drug but has no real medicine in it. * Participants will take BIIB122 or placebo 1 time a day for up to a minimum of 48 weeks and a maximum of 144 weeks. * Certain medications for PD will be allowed at enrollment for a subset of participants. * Participants will have to visit at 2-week intervals between baseline and week 12 and at 4-week intervals between week 12 and week 48 and at 12 week intervals between week 48 and week 144. The main question researchers are trying to answer is if taking BIIB122 slows the worsening of symptoms more than placebo in the early stages of PD. To help answer this question, researchers will use a questionnaire called the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, also known as the MDS-UPDRS. Researchers will use the MDS-UPDRS to learn about participant PD symptoms and how they affect their daily life. Researchers will also learn more about the safety of BIIB122. Read Less

The purpose of this registry is to compile characteristics of world-wide outcomes for the use of Boston Scientific's commercially available Vercise DBS System in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. The utilization of Image Guided Programming (IGP), and other commercially available programming features, used as planning tools for the programming of patients with Boston Scientific's Vercise DBS System are also evaluated. Additionally, the utilization of the DBS Illumina 3D feature that may be used for the programming of patients with Boston Scientific's Vercise DBS Systems is also evaluated. Read Less

The objective of this randomized, surgically controlled, double-blinded, Phase 2 study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of AAV2-GDNF delivered to the putamen in subjects with moderate Parkinson's Disease. Read Less

The purpose of the study is to determine if using SIS System for DBS planning results in less distance between the planned target location and the actual implanted lead location than DBS planning without SIS System. Read Less

Pain is a very common and disabling symptom in Parkinson's disease, yet it is often untreated. This study will assess the impact of home-based physical and cognitive exercise interventions to reduce pain in this disease. This approach would offer an easily implemented and affordable way to encourage and maintain use of these interventions by patients virtually indefinitely through remote access technology. The study findings may help VA clinicians provide optimal care for the many Veterans with Parkinson's disease and chronic pain. Read Less

This research involves retrospective and prospective studies for clinical validation of a DystoniaNet deep learning platform for the diagnosis of isolated dystonia. Read Less

This study is a Phase 3 multi-site, randomized, evaluator-masked, study of endurance treadmill exercise on changes in the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) Part III score at 12 months among persons with early stage Parkinson disease. 370 participants will be randomly assigned to 2 groups: 1)60-65% HRmax or 2)80-85% HRmax 4 times per week. The primary objective is to test whether the progression of the signs of Parkinson's disease is attenuated at 12 months in among persons who have not initiated medication for Parkinson Disease (PD) when they perform high-intensity endurance treadmill exercise. Read Less

The goal of this clinical trial is to assess the safety and tolerability of the surgical transplantation of dopaminergic progenitor cells into the brains of participants with Parkinson's disease. The transplanted dopaminergic cells will be derived from the participant's own skin cells. Read Less

This study will enroll participants with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and healthy controls for the purpose of preparing for a clinical trial of neuroprotective treatments against synucleinopathies. Read Less

This study is an observational, prospective genetic study. It aims to obtain DNA for research and testing from patients with PSP, CBS, MSA, and related neurological conditions and their families. Up to 1,000 adults who have been clinically diagnosed with PSP, CBS, MSA, or related neurological conditions will be enrolled. The study intervention involves sequencing of participant blood samples using non-CLIA-approved whole genome sequencing at the National Institutes of Health. Pathogenic variants that are deemed possibly related to these conditions will be confirmed using CLIA-approved testing. The study involves minimal risk to participants. Read Less

Freezing-of-gait (FoG) in Parkinson Disease (PD) is one of the most vivid and disturbing gait phenomena in neurology. Often described by patients as a feeling of "feet getting glued to the floor," FoG is formally defined as a "brief, episodic absence or marked reduction of forward progression of the feet despite the intention to walk." This debilitating gait phenomena is very common in PD, occurring in up to 80% of individuals with severe PD. When FoG arrests walking, serious consequences can occur such as loss of balance, falls, injurious events, consequent fear of falling, and increased hospitalization. Wearable robots are capable of augmenting spatiotemporal gait mechanics and are emerging as viable solutions for locomotor assistance in various neurological populations. For the proposed study, our goal is to understand how low force mechanical assistance from soft robotic apparel can best mitigate gait decline preceding a freezing episode and subsequent onset of FoG by improving spatial (e.g. stride length) and temporal features (e.g. stride time variability) of walking. We hypothesize that the ongoing gait-preserving effects can essentially minimize the accumulation of motor errors that lead to FoG. Importantly, the autonomous assistance provided by the wearable robot circumvents the need for cognitive or attentional resources, thereby minimizing risks for overloading the cognitive systems -- a known trigger for FoG, thus enhancing the repeatability and robustness of FoG-preventing effects. Read Less