VANCOUVER - Jim Smerdon believes that in his lifetime, researchers will find a treatment that will stop Parkinson's disease from destroying his ability to walk and talk, work and play.

Matthew Farrer is one of the people most likely to prove Jim Smerdon right.

Smerdon, 37, is one of 11,000 British Columbians with Parkinson's disease. His symptoms are controlled by drugs, some days more effectively than others. But the condition itself progresses inexorably, as he discovers if he's ever late taking his medications.

Farrer is a world expert in the genetic aspects of Parkinson's disease and molecular neuroscience. His appointment as the Dr. Donald Rix B.C. Leadership Chair in Genetic Medicine at the University of British Columbia was announced today by Dr. Moira Stilwell, Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Research and Innovation.

Farrer and his team have helped identify five genes involved in Parkinson's by analyzing DNA from families in more than 20 countries on five continents, collaborating with the doctors who work directly with the patients. His most recent discovery, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics last month, is the identification of a genetic mutation that causes late-onset Parkinson's disease, using DNA samples of a Swiss family where 11 relatives have developed the disease.

This is the first genetic mutation discovery related to Parkinson's led by a Canadian team. Farrer and his team are now developing new therapies based on their findings of the past decade.

Government established LEEF to attract world-class researchers to B.C., promote economic growth and job creation, strengthen the province's position as a centre of excellence in research, match government funding with money from the private sector and individual donors, and promote the unique roles that B.C. universities and colleges play in innovation in British Columbia.

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Quick Facts:

• Parkinson's disease affects nerve cells in the part of the brain controlling muscle movement. Symptoms can include trembling, muscle rigidity, difficulty walking, and problems with balance and co-ordination.
• Symptoms generally develop after age 50, although four per cent of cases affect people under 50, including children as young as seven. Up to half of Parkinson's sufferers develop dementia.
•  An estimated 11,000 British Columbians are afflicted with Parkinson's, and more than 100,000 people in Canada suffer from the disease.
• Parkinson's is the second most-common chronic neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's.
• It is estimated that 10 million Canadians - nearly one-third of the country's population - will be affected by brain disease, disorder or injury at some time in their lives.
• It costs Canada's health-care systems an estimated $30 billion a year to treat these conditions.
• The provincial government has invested $56.25 million in the Leading Edge Endowment Fund to create 29 permanently endowed chairs.
• The Dr. Donald Rix B.C. Leadership Chair in Genetic Medicine is the 24^th LEEF chair to be named, and the ninth at UBC.
• The chair proposal was developed by Dr. Michael Hayden and his colleagues at the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, and Hayden played an instrumental role in recruiting Farrer.

Learn More:

• Leading Edge Endowment Fund: http://www.leefbc.ca/
• LifeLabs BC: www.lifelabs.com/Lifelabs_BC/
• Genome BC: http://www.genomebc.ca/
• Brain Research Centre: http://www.brain.ubc.ca/
• UBC Faculty of Medicine: http://www.med.ubc.ca/
• Pacific Parkinson's Research Centre: http://www.parkinsons.ubc.ca/
• Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute: http://www.vchri.ca/

Contacts:

Connect with the Province of B.C. at: www.gov.bc.ca/connect