Background pattern of a brain with neural connections

Team Kirkeby

Connecting the environmental exposome to PD risk and disease pathology

2026-Present

Although many PD-associated toxicants have been banned in EU for >20 years, it is paradoxical that the increase in incidence of PD is higher in Europe than in USA. Here, we perform systematic screening of environmental toxicants in a stem cell-based model of PD and select key candidates for testing in rodents. With a team of environmental chemists, we search for novel PD-associated toxicants by screening the urine of newly diagnosed PD individuals through non-targeted exposomics, and we make use of data-rich Danish registers to identify epidemiological links between individual life-long toxicant exposure and PD diagnosis.

Tags
Environmental toxinsGene-environment interactionsiPSC neurons

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In the News

Decoding the Blueprint: Advancing Personalized Parkinson’s Treatments

Decoding the Blueprint: Advancing Personalized Parkinson’s Treatments

05/21/2026 — In our community, we often hear: “If you’ve met one person with Parkinson’s, you’ve met one person with Parkinson’s.” This isn’t just an adage — it’s a biological reality. This radical variability is exactly what makes the disease so difficult to outsmart. We’ve learned that a puzzle this fragmented cannot be solved with a single, broad stroke. Our goal isn’t to find one answer for everyone, but the right answer for the right person at the right time.

Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s and The Michael J. Fox Foundation Expand Global Research Initiative with $261M Investment Toward Personalized Treatments

Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s and The Michael J. Fox Foundation Expand Global Research Initiative with $261M Investment Toward Personalized Treatments

04/28/2026 — Today, Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP), in partnership with The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF), announced $261 million in new grant funding for the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) to map the biological blueprint of Parkinson’s disease and build a standardized toolkit of global research resources that are needed to turn discoveries into treatments.

Our Research Teams

Members of the CRN work diligently to advance our understanding of Parkinson’s disease. Learn more about recent CRN discoveries and achievements.