National Centre of Excellence in Research on Parkinson’s Disease

Study Objective

The National Centre of Excellence in Research on Parkinson’s disease (NCER-PD) aims to find new ways for an earlier diagnosis and better treatment against Parkinson’s disease.
For this reason, people with and without Parkinson’s are invited to participate in our study.

Why research on Parkinson‘s disease?

Parkinson’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder, for which
there is currently no cure. New research approaches are needed to understand the exact causes of the disease and thereby find new ways for an earlier diagnosis, better treatment options and even preventive measures.

Parkinson‘s disease research in Luxembourg

Four Luxembourgish research institutions, the Luxembourg Centre of Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg, the Luxembourg Institue of Health (LIH), the Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg (IBBL) as well as the Centre Hospitalier du Luxembourg (CHL), have set themselves the goal to significantly contribute to these points. The experts of these institutions have joined forces in a research programme entitled National Centre of Excellence in Research on Parkinson’s disease (NCER-PD) that is funded by the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) in 2015.

Our researchers combine the large number of clinical assessments and biological information from the laboratory with computer-driven methods. This allows them to search for new patterns, so-called biomarkers, through which healthy people and people with Parkinson’s or even subgroups of the disease can be differentiated. Based on these patterns new treatment and diagnostic approaches can then be developed.

Your participation in the Luxembourg Parkinson’s study

People with and without Parkinson‘s disease are invited to participate in the Luxembourg
Parkinson’s study. You can determine your level of participation and which tests you would like
to take part in.

The programme includes:

• Clinical examinations by a doctor
• Neuropsychological tests e.g. smell, dexterity, concentration and memory
• Laboratory analyses from blood, urine and saliva samples

There is also an opportunity to take part in additional tests, such as stool sample, skin biopsy.

Contact

If you have further questions or would like to participate as a patient, please contact the team at the Parkinson’s Clinic of Centre Hospitalier du Luxembourg by phone or email (+352 44 11 48 48 or Parkinson@chl.lu ). 
If you don’t have Parkinson’s disease and would like to participate as healthy control subject, please contact the team at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (+352 26 970 800 or Parkinson@chl.lu) . Examinations for control persons will take place at the Clinical and Epidemiological Investigation Center (CIEC) of the Luxembourg Institute of Health.

Participation conditions for patients and healthy persons

Inclusion criteria

 People with or without Parkinson’s disease
 Men or women with a full capacity of consent.
 People with a limited consent capacity may, in exceptional cases, be included if the legal guardian/authorised representative is in agreement.
 Minimum age: 18 years at the start of participation.

Exclusion criteria

 Refusal to sign the informed consent.
 Limited capacity of consent on the part of the donor, if there is no legally determined guardian/authorised representative, or the latter is not present or does not agree with inclusion.
 Pregnant women.
 Underage subjects of less than 18 years of age.
 Refusal to comply with sample collection.
 Relevant blood clotting impairment, e.g. anamnestic evidence of frequent or prolonged bleedings.

More information and how to participate available here: www.parkinson.lu

Video « Mach mit bei der Parkinson-Forschung!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQRwV9ENJPI 

Vidéo « Prenez part à la recherche sur la maladie de Parkinson! » http://wwwfr.uni.lu/press/europa_fokus_2015/thema_biomedizin 

List of inclusion centers: 

- Parkinson klinik of CHL
- CIEC (LIH)