Spring, 2011
Dr. David Loeffler is Director of the Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory at
William Beaumont Hospital, in Royal Oak, Michigan. Dr. Loeffler was one of
our $5000 PMDF grant award winners this year, and I had a chance to talk with
him about his research on Parkinson’s disease and how he got interested in
scientific research.
Dr. Loeffler studies the role of the immune system in Parkinson’s disease. Over the past few decades, research on immune factors in Parkinson’s and other neurologic diseases has taken many forms. It was a finding in the field of Alzheimer’s disease that piqued Dr. Loeffler’s interest and led to his current line of investigation. This finding involves the use of antibodies as a possible treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
It turns out that many, if not all, of us generate antibodies against a key protein involved in Alzheimer’s disease. It is possible that these antibodies could interfere with the disease process by binding to the faulty protein and preventing it from killing brain cells. While studies in Alzheimer’s disease patients are currently underway, Dr. Loeffler wondered if this tack might also be taken in Parkinson’s disease—another neurologic disease characterized by at least one faulty protein.
The protein that Dr. Loeffler is studying in Parkinson’s disease is known as alpha-synuclein. As with the Alzheimer’s protein, many of us make antibodies to alpha-synuclein. Dr. Loeffler is currently studying how antibodies from human blood affect alpha-synuclein under laboratory conditions. Although it is too early to tell whether this research will eventually lead to new treatment possibilities, it will certainly help us learn more about the protein that many believe is the key to unlocking the secrets of Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Loeffler’s entrance into neuroscience and the study of Parkinson’s disease began in a somewhat unusual way. He was first trained as a veterinarian, earning his DVM in 1975 from the University of California at Davis. After working with animals for several years, he accepted a position as a veterinary virologist at the Israeli Department of Agriculture’s Kimron Veterinary Institute in Bet Dagan, Israel. It was during this time that Dr. Loeffler realized his love for research, which eventually led him back to school and to a PhD in immunology from Cornell University. After working in tumor immunology for several years, Dr. Loeffler moved to Sinai Hospital in Detroit to work in the Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory studying Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. The laboratory eventually moved to William Beaumont Hospital, in Royal Oak, Michigan, where Dr. Loeffler works today. Dr. Loeffler and his wife Sandy live in Oak Park, Michigan and have two children, Zev and Deena.
We look forward to following Dr. Loeffler’s work on Parkinson’s disease and congratulate him on his receipt of the PMDF award.
This article originally appeared on page 5 of the Spring, 2011 PMDF newsletter.