Partners in Parkinson’s Disease Research

Jurenkos Support Collaboration Between UAB Department of Neurology and HudsonAlpha

John and Ruth Jurenko

Ruth and John Jurenko have made another generous contribution to the Department of Neurology in their ongoing support. Their investment in the UAB-HudsonAlpha Collaborative Project in the Genetics and Genomics of Parkinson’s Disease benefits a promising research collaboration between UAB and HudsonAlpha. The collaboration capitalizes on the strengths of both institutions—two of the largest biomedical research institutions in the state—and their respective researchers.

Located in Alabama, the HudsonAlpha Institute is the cornerstone of a 150-acre biotech campus in Cummings Research Park, the nation’s second largest research park. The nonprofit institute is an integral part of Alabama’s life sciences community.

“This initiative holds great promise for better understanding of Parkinson’s disease and the development of enhanced treatment options, as well as for the procurement of additional research support from the National Institutes of Health and other entities,” UAB President Carol Garrison says.

The Jurenkos have previously contributed to the department through the John A. and Ruth R. Jurenko Neurological Research Laboratory and the John A. and Ruth R. Jurenko Research Scholar Fund. Those gifts were used to renovate and equip neurological research laboratory space and establish a sponsored research fund to support a faculty member in the Department of Neurology conducting Parkinson’s disease research.

“Mr. and Mrs. Jurenko have been longtime partners in our effort to find new treatments and a cure for Parkinson’s disease,” says David Standaert, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Neurology. “Their support has lead to groundbreaking research in Parkinson’s disease by Andy West, Ph.D., the John A. and Ruth R. Jurenko Scholar. Their most recent support is strengthening our collaborative research effort with HudsonAlpha in Huntsville, Alabama, which I believe will lead to exciting new breakthroughs in how we are able to treat Parkinson’s patients in the near future. I am truly grateful to the Jurenko family for their ongoing support of our research program and look forward to a continued strengthening of our collaborative research efforts with HudsonAlpha in the future.”

Mr. Jurenko adds, “Putting Alabama’s top biomedical investigators to work in a collaborative effort is the best way to ultimately develop treatments that will slow, cure, or even prevent the disease.”

Maintaining the Momentum / Summer 2011