Parkinson’s Disease is characterized by a progressive loss of dopamine-producing neurons in a region of the brain involved in movement control. More than 10 million people are living with Parkinson’s, which causes tremors, slowness of movement, rigidity, balance problems, and other neurologic symptoms.
Dopamine is a chemical messenger that regulates the brain’s circuits responsible for planning and executing controlled movement. Current treatments include deep-brain stimulation (DBS) via implanted electrodes to jam faulty signals caused by the neurodegeneration, often in conjunction with dopamine-promoting medication.
Helen Schwerdt, assistant professor of bioengineering, hypothesizes that using a separate brain probe to measure dopamine as a biomarker at a high resolution can help establish the optimum parameters for the use of DBS and medication, reduce side effects, and produce better clinical outcomes.
She and her second-year doctoral student, Ritesh Shrivastav, are the recipients of the 2026 Hunter Family Foundation Innovation in Neuroscience Program award, which supports translational research in neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh. Schwerdt and Shrivastav collaborate with Jorge González-MartĂnez, vice chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery, on the clinical applications of the technology.
“The field lacks knowledge of what abnormal dopamine signals look like in Parkinson’s that are potentially causing the motor issues in people suffering this disease,” Schwerdt said. “We’re trying to address this by creating a tool that can provide a readout of the dysregulated neurochemical environment to potentially personalize the treatment.”
Shrivastav, who has been working in Schwerdt’s lab since he was an undergraduate, said he learned of the Hunter program by attending the Community of Innovators meetings held weekly by the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship during both the fall and spring semesters.
“These high-risk/high-reward studies are difficult to get funded, but are exactly how device feasibility must be proven for clinical translation,” he said. “My interest is in translating these tools for research and commercial use. The Hunter funding is critical for validating clinical use cases for our probe.”
The award funds will be used to conduct animal and human studies in which their dopamine sensor can be incorporated into neurosurgical procedures performed by González-MartĂnez.
“Deep brain stimulation has been around for decades now, but nobody knows for sure how it works,” Shrivastav said. “These studies will help us determine dopamine’s value as a biomarker for the first time and how it can be measured to improve clinical outcomes. If we are successful, we can move onto regulatory testing and potentially pursue the approvals necessary to get this to market and improve patients’ lives.”
“Dr. Schwerdt and her team are tackling one of the most persistent unknowns in Parkinson’s care: what’s actually happening at the neurochemical level during deep brain stimulation. If their dopamine biomarker proves successful, it could transform DBS from a broadly effective but imprecise tool into a truly personalized therapy — one that’s calibrated to each patient’s unique neurochemistry,” said Evan Facher, vice chancellor for innovation and entrepreneurship and associate dean for commercial translation at the Pitt School of Medicine. “That kind of impact, translating fundamental bioengineering research into real clinical benefit for people living with Parkinson’s, is precisely what the Hunter Family Foundation Innovation in Neuroscience Program was created to accelerate.”
The Hunter Program is made possible by the generous support of the Hunter Family Foundation. Learn more.