The Push for Global Representation in Parkinson's Disease

 This semester we got to hear Dr. Mary Makarious discuss her genetic diversity studies of Parkinson’s Disease. She explained that most of the Parkinson's genetic data we have today comes from European populations, which can be harmful to people from different backgrounds who may have different genetic markers and need altered treatments. It is important to study Parkinson’s in underrepresented populations to learn more about how this disease can affect people from around the world differently. Scientists can use these findings to identify new genetic factors and create more specialized treatments that work for larger groups of people. 

In a recent study called “Genetic variants associated with idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease in Latin America”, researchers reviewed data from 19 different Latin American countries including Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Peru. They found that there were genes in common with the well studied European populations, as well as some genes that were not present in other populations. The Latin American genetic background is extremely diverse and there are many genetic factors that could be missed if data was only collected from European populations. These findings were similar to the work of Dr. Makarious, and highlighted the importance of studying underrepresented population genetics. The authors also emphasized that genetic studies in Latin America would be the only way to make sure that they get fair access to precise medical care. 

Another recent study called “Parkinson Disease Genetics Extended to African and Hispanic Ancestries in the VA Million Veterans Program” studied the genetic patterns of Parkinson’s in a population of over 600,000 veterans. The veterans in the study had diverse backgrounds, and they were able to use this data to compare genetic risk scores across different populations. Interestingly, they found that genetic risk scores from European data were able to predict Parkinson’s in African and Hispanic populations pretty well. However, they also found that African individuals who had similar risk scores to the European individuals, tended to have lower rates of diagnosed Parkinson’s. This helped to shine light on things like a lack of healthcare access or diagnostic bias that go hand in hand with the lack of genetic studies in underrepresented populations that Dr. Makarious talked about as well. 

All of these studies support the idea that Parkinson’s genetic research should be more global and inclusive. Through large programs, we can better understand how genetic differences can shape diseases around the world. Identifying risk factors and genetic markers in underrepresented populations can help create personalized treatments for everyone. This is necessary both scientifically and ethically since genetic research equality leads to healthcare equality. Research can easily overlook large groups of people if diversity is not a priority. Thankfully, these studies are trying to make it a priority and show real progress in making neuroscience more inclusive. 

References

Duarte-Zambrano, F., Alfonso-Cedeño, D. F., Barrero, J. A., et al. (2025). Genetic variants associated with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease in Latin America: A systematic review. Neurogenetics, 26(43). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10048-025-00817-8

Pankratz, N., Cole, B. R., Beutel, K. M., Liao, K. P., & Ashe, J. (2024). Parkinson Disease Genetics Extended to African and Hispanic Ancestries in the VA Million Veteran Program. Neurology: Genetics, 10(e200110). https://doi.org/10.1212/NXG.0000000000200110