PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — With $486,000 over the next three years from a Doris Duke Charitable Foundation "Clinical Scientist Development Award," neurosurgery Assistant Professor Wael Asaad hopes to develop a better understanding of brain rhythms in Parkinson's Disease.

Asaad is one of 17 physician-scientists around the country to win the award from the foundation, which provides early career support to promising investigators.

"I am honored to receive this generous grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, supporting our research into normal and abnormal brain rhythms in Parkinson's Disease," said Asaad, who also works with patients at Rhode Island Hospital and is affiliated with the Brown Institute for Brain Science. "We aim to understand how such rhythms arise with various forms of movement, and how we can apply deep brain stimulation at just the right moments and in just the right amounts to transform bad rhythms into good ones. We hope that our work will result in tangible improvements to this effective but still imperfect therapy, in order to improve the lives of those suffering from this neurological disease."

The foundation announced the awards last week (PDF). Asaad was one of only two New England recipients of a DDCF development award this year.