Engineering objective physiologic measures to characterize nonmotor aspects of Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a complex, heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder whose prevalence is increasing rapidly. Not only do patients experience motor symptoms, but many experience debilitating nonmotor symptoms caused by peripheral degeneration in the autonomic nervous system, including atrophy of the vagus nerve, and the enteric nervous system. Current tools to assess PD peripheral dysfunction are invasive or subjective. I will work at the intersection of neurology and engineering to develop objective signatures of PD peripheral dysfunction in the ambulatory and in-clinic settings to gain better understanding of distinct PD pathophysiologies, enabling more personalized treatments to improve quality of life.