My research aim is to identify accurate and early biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood for Parkinson’s disease (PD) and atypical parkinsonian disorders (APD), i.e. multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. I also aim to identify markers for disease progression and investigate the longitudinal changes in CSF biomarkers. New biomarkers will improve the early diagnosis and add information regarding prognosis but also contribute to the development of new disease modifying therapies.

Due to overlapping symptomatology, it can be difficult to distinguish PD from APD, especially early on in the disease process. Furthermore, in PD, the clinical presentation and prognosis is highly varied both regarding motor function and cognition.

As part of the Swedish BioFINDER study, we have created a longitudinal prospective cohort of 350 patients with PD and APD as well as controls who will be followed for up to 10 years. The study participants are followed with clinical examinations as well as repeated lumbar puncture and blood sampling. This enables us to identify markers for disease progression and investigate longitudinal changes in biomarkers in CSF and blood. The participants are also examined with repeated MRI and we plan to correlate clinical presentation, CSF/blood biomarkers with results from imaging.

I am a specialist in Neurology and combine my research with clinical work at the Memory Clinic, SUS, Malmö.