Gut-brain communication in Parkinson’s disease for better symptoms and daily life
Official title: A Consortium for Gut-Brain Communication in Parkinson's Disease
Funded at Columbia University Health Sciences · NIH-11593798 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project enrolls people with Parkinson’s disease and healthy controls to build a big registry and study how gut function, brain signals, sleep, and circadian rhythms relate to PD symptoms.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2024 |
| Project end | June 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $757,440 |
| NIH project number | 7U01DK140933-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11593798 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with Parkinson’s disease (across stages) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls who can participate in imaging, sleep studies, and GI assessments.
✕Less likely to help
People unable to participate in imaging, sleep, or GI testing or those who do not have PD or match the control group may not benefit.
What this research studies
If you have Parkinson’s or are healthy, you could join researchers across multiple sites to provide detailed information about your symptoms, gut function, sleep, and brain signals. The study will collect clinical assessments, physiologic measurements, brain-gut imaging, and sleep/circadian data to understand how the gut and nervous system interact in PD. Researchers will analyze these data to identify links between gastric function, autonomic changes, and PD symptoms, with an emphasis on how circadian rhythms relate to GI motility. A subset of participants may undergo ambulatory and in-patient studies to explore circadian desynchrony and its relation to GI dysfunction in PD. Overall, the project aims to build a comprehensive registry to guide future therapies and biomarkers in gut-brain PD care.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Better understanding of how gut function and circadian rhythms influence PD could lead to more targeted treatments and improved quality of life.
How similar studies have gone: The consortium approach and phenotyping across sites build on prior work showing links between gut function and PD symptoms, with potential for novel insights in this large registry.
Where this research is happening
-
Columbia University Health Sciences
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kuo, Braden — Columbia University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Kuo, Braden
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Gut-brain clues in Parkinson’s disease: supplement to a large registry
A plant-wide supplement to an NIH program will enroll people with Parkinson’s, with and without GI symptoms, plus healthy controls, to study how gut function, brain signals, and sleep rhythms relate to Parkinson’s symptoms.
-
Gut-brain connections in Parkinson’s disease: how the gut and environment shape symptoms
A Mayo Clinic team is studying how gut problems, environmental factors, and genetics together influence Parkinson’s disease and its GI symptoms to find biomarkers and better understanding of the disease.
-
Gut microbiome and Parkinson's disease: how gut bugs relate to symptoms and progression
A multi-year study will look at gut bacteria and related markers in people with Parkinson’s disease to understand how the gut-brain connection may influence symptoms and progression.
-
Gut-Brain Axis in Parkinson’s Disease: biomarkers and procedures to track progression
A patient-focused program to study how gut health and the brain interact in Parkinson’s disease using biomarkers and clinical procedures.
-
Understanding posture and movement in Parkinson’s patients to reduce falls
A study using wearable sensors to track real-world balance and movement in people with Parkinson’s disease to help prevent falls.
-
Gulf War chemical exposures and early signs of Parkinson's disease
This project looks at whether deployment-related chemical exposures are linked to early Parkinson's signs in Gulf War veterans.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.