Background pattern of a brain with neural connections

Team West

Decoding Alpha-Synuclein Conformational Diversity to Enable Advanced Predictive Amplification Assays

2026-Present

Data from our Team suggest that recombinant products from alpha-synuclein seeding-amplification assays (SAAs) may harbor an untapped wealth of conformational heterogeneity, echoing post translational modifications and conformational properties of seeds and assemblies in the brain, associated with different endophenotypes in Parkinson’s disease and related Lewy body diseases. In our Team approach, we will harness the latest breakthroughs in cryo-EM and mass spectrometry to provide an unprecedented vantage into specific seeds, co-factors, and pathologies to enable the rapid development of scalable conformation-specific precision SAAs that accurately predict important endophenotypes in disease and provide new targets for therapeutic intervention.

Tags
Alpha-synucleinCryo-EMCryo-ETFibrilFluid-based biomarkersPathologyProtein aggregatesProteomicsSeeding assays

Contributions

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Accolades

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In the News

Duke’s Research Team Joins Global Network to Unravel the Complexity of Parkinson’s Disease

Duke’s Research Team Joins Global Network to Unravel the Complexity of Parkinson’s Disease

05/29/2026 — A research team co-led by Alberto Bartesaghi, associate professor of Computer Science, Biochemistry, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been selected to join the Collaborative Research Network (CRN), an international, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional network working to address high-priority research questions about Parkinson's disease, through a $9 million grant awarded by Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP), in partnership with The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF).

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.