What is the best advanced medical center in the world for Parkinson disease?

I don't think there is just one Best. I think that there are many bests - many different directions for research.





Medical centers are conducting research in several different areas and at this point it would be difficult to say which is best. It is too early to make that qualitative judgment. We are farther from a cure than we would like, so all of the research is not and cannot be about cures. Research must improve treatment; it must slow or stop progression. Research must identify the risk factors to help Medicine treat the patient and not just the disease.





It may even be that the pharmaceutical company developing Cogane turns out to be the best if that GDNF treatment ever gets out of clinical trials. But that doesn't mean it is the best for symptomatic treatment of people who wouldn't be candidates for the treatment.





Here is a list in no particular order for some of the best advanced research centers in the US.





The Parkinson's Institute and Clinical center in Sunnyvale, CA


If you live anywhere nearby and have PD, this is the place to go for treatment.


http://www.thepi.org/





Any of the Morris K Udall Centers for Excellence - but the list below is not complete as I didn't see the University of Pittsburgh, the newest center of excellence:


http://www.ninds.nih.gov/research/parkin鈥?/a>





There is some outstanding research underway at Whitehead Institute (MIT) and Harvard


http://www.ninds.nih.gov/research/parkin鈥?/a>


http://www.wi.mit.edu/news/archives/2009鈥?/a>





Emory University in Atlanta Ga is doing some significant research in Parkinson's disease now.





Northwestern University in Chicago, IL Feinberg School of Medicine, Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center should not be ignored as they are making substantial contributions in PD research.





University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI and the Cleveland Clinic should not be ignored. There is also New York University. And you can't ignore Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.


http://www.mountsinai.org/Patient%20Care鈥?/a>


http://www.med.nyu.edu/neurosurgery/func鈥?/a>





The Mayo Clinic both in Minnesota has been keeping records and conducting research for decades. The Mayo Clinic in Florida is doing some very interesting research now.





Take a look at the funded grants for PD research at the Michael J Fox Foundation and you will get an idea of the scope and direction of research not to mention the places where these researchers are working:


http://www.michaeljfox.org/research_MJFF鈥?/a>





The VA has also become involved with PD because of the chemical exposure and the incidence of PD in veterans:


http://www.parkinsons.va.gov/





There is also the Howard Hughes Medical Institute which is devoted to solving neurological issues


http://www.hhmi.org/





There is also the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences working on Spinal Cord Stimulation with neuroscientists at the Edmond and Lila Safra International Institute of Neurosciences in Natal, Brazil and with the Brain and Mind Institute of the Swiss Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausane, Switzerland. You will see several grants to research at various institutes in Sweden at MJFF. The international list is extensive.





Washington University Medical School in St Louis is another research center. The University of Maryland Medical Center Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center has some of the broadest range of information to assist the PwP.


http://www.umm.edu/parkinsons/





There is also the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology,





Because of the different direction of Parkinson's disease research in genetics, stem cells, GDNF and related glial cell studies, alternative therapies, DBS, Spinal Cord stimulation, Forced Exercise (Cleveland Clinic and Kent State) Pesticides, the list goes on. There is more genetic research going on in Japan. There are excellent charitable institutions such as the UK's Parkinson's Disease Society which funds research.





They are all best and advanced. The parts and pieces = clues which can be referenced and shared with others...and they are. You will see researchers from several institutions co-authoring studies.





While I feel that there are too many small charities in the PD mix and the focus should be on supporting perhaps 5 or 6 of the big ones worldwide, the work being conducted at all of the institutions and some of the pharmaceutical companies is very significant. Sometimes a dead end is just as important as well conducted research with an end point can save money in the long run.





The more teaching institutions which have movement disorder - neurodegenerative condition sections, the better future training of medical personnel can be also. The more doctors who open their minds to alternative medici