Clemens R. Scherzer, M.D.

Associate Professor of Neurology
Harvard Medical School

Co-Director
Harvard NeuroDiscovery Biomarker Program

Associate Neurologist
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital

Email: cscherzer@partners.org

To cure Parkinson’s disease new therapeutics and diagnostics are needed. We look at a global view of gene activity in human Parkinson’s disease to discover disease genes, drug targets, and molecular biomarkers. While the number of human genes has shrunken to an estimated ~22,000, the recent discovery of a hidden universe of an ever-increasing number of >100,000 unique transcripts is revolutionizing our thinking about gene-RNA-protein interactions. Complex genetic diseases such as Parkinson’s disease are caused by combinatorial effects of environmental, epigenetic, and genetic contributions that exert their disease-causing effects largely through cis- and trans-acting regulation of transcript abundance and specific post-transcriptional processing. Our laboratory specializes in translational transcriptomics and decodes the Parkinson’s transcriptome using RNA-Seq, microarray, and microfluidic platforms, combined with advanced computational biology. We translate our transcriptional targets into new therapies using high-throughput drug screens. Our longitudinal Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center Biomarker Study of more than 1,500 participants serves as a unique incubator for biomarkers and a future personalized neurology.