{"id":249137,"date":"2026-07-29T11:18:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=249137"},"modified":"2026-07-29T11:18:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:18:43","slug":"the-power-of-uconn-collaborating-for-parkinsons-disease-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/07\/the-power-of-uconn-collaborating-for-parkinsons-disease-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of UConn Collaborating for Parkinson\u2019s Disease Patients"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jose Figueroa, 66, of New Britain is \u201cso grateful\u201d for UConn and its powerful cross-campus collaboration helping improve the health and quality of life of Parkinson\u2019s disease patients just like him.<\/p>\n

\"Jose
Jose Figueroa walks and exercises daily.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Figueroa has been battling Parkinson\u2019s disease for 16 years since being diagnosed in 2012 following his visit to the Emergency Department when a provider noticed his legs and arms were continuously shaking. He is a longtime patient at UConn Health and now its Brain and Spine Institute with Dr. Bernardo Rodrigues.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Rodrigues is excellent. Anytime there is a new program or resource for Parkinson\u2019s patients he always tells us,\u201d says Figueroa. \u201cIt has helped so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

His wife also sees a big difference in the last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cJose\u2019s Parkinson\u2019s used to be like an Earthquake,\u201d says his wife, Emily. \u201cBut now there has been a big improvement. He no longer needs to use a cane to walk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Emily
Emily and Jose Figueroa are so grateful for UConn and UConn Health.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His successful progress is all thanks to a UConn cross-campus collaboration to advance research between the Brain and Spine Institute\u2019s faculty like Rodrigues at UConn School of Medicine with the researchers of UConn Storrs\u2019 Department of Kinesiology and its dedicated Movement for Life Lab.<\/p>\n

\"UConn's
UConn’s targeted, amino-acid protein shake developed by the Storrs research team led by Dr. Jacob Earp and Dr. C. Colon-Semenza.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just a year ago Figueroa started participating in an initial, three-week nutritional supplement study beginning to test the benefits of consuming a targeted, amino-acid protein shake developed by the Storrs research team led by Dr. Jacob Earp and Dr. C. Colon-Semenza. Their goal was to find a new way to assist PD patients like Figueroa by using a nutritional supplement designed specifically for those with Parkinson\u2019s disease that is intended to be easier to consume than conventional supplements, reduce inflammation, and provide nutrients that support an active lifestyle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt really good while taking the shake. I definitely had more energy,\u201d reports Figueroa. \u201cA healthy shake can feel better than medicine. I would still take the shake if it was still available to me,\u201d says Figueroa who also has learned the true benefits of not only the shake but adding daily exercise too.<\/p>\n

\"Jose
Jose Figueroa<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cLast year I started exercising with the Storrs research team every week on Fridays, including over Zoom,\u201d says Figueroa. \u201cAnd my Parkinson\u2019s disease symptoms started doing better! My shaking slowed and my imbalance is not as bad.\u00a0\u00a0I no longer need my cane to walk,\u201d he exclaims.<\/p>\n

Figueroa began going to the gym daily and a year later has lost a significant amount of weight too.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhen I started exercising, I could only walk a quarter of a mile, now I can do 7 miles every day!\u201d<\/p>\n

His wife agrees, \u201cHe\u2019s definitely healthier. He has more energy and I can see a big difference. He still feels his Parkinson\u2019s, but it is not as bad!\u201d<\/p>\n

Figueroa has a strong message to others diagnosed with PD.<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost gave up on my Parkinson\u2019s disease. But you can\u2019t ever give up! First, it is hard to start exercising but keep with it and you will see a difference!\u201d<\/p>\n

His wife Emily is also so grateful for her husband\u2019s success thanks to UConn researchers collaborating on advancing science and patient programming.<\/p>\n

\"Protein
The UConn-designed supplement, protein powder is made out of a select series of amino-acids, which are like the Lego bricks of proteins, which may be too low and need to be higher in PD patients.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIf you have Parkinson\u2019s disease Jose\u2019s story truly shows you the power of the impact of adding a healthy lifestyle and exercise, and how you can be happy and have energy again, and enjoy your life!\u201d shares his wife.<\/p>\n

UConn and UConn School of Medicine researchers have now started a 6-month study of the potential impactful benefits of study participants consumption of its targeted Amino-Acid supplement shake for Parkinson\u2019s patients being cared for at UConn Health.<\/p>\n

The shake was designed to work to correct Amino-Acid deficiencies related to PD and provide potential beneficial effects to improve the long-term health of people living with the disease by reducing inflammation, encouraging heathy metabolism, and providing the nutritional building blocks the body needs to ensure proper brain and muscle health.<\/p>\n

The study is currently recruiting patients 60-80 years old to enroll during the 6-month period for taking the shake daily, and sharing periodic blood samples, and completing physical function assessments and questionnaires.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis novel, targeted protein supplement shake may really improve Parkinson disease patient\u2019s function and nutrition,\u201d says Rodrigues about the new UConn-designed supplement, protein powder made out of a select series of amino-acids, which are like the Lego bricks of proteins, which may be too low and need to be higher in PD patients.<\/p>\n

The Storrs research team\u2019s work identified what amino-acids are actually low in PD patients to create the unique shake. They successfully applied to the FDA for a new investigational drug application and are now principal investigators for the FDA. Their clinical study is comparing their UConn-made shake with over-the-counter ones.<\/p>\n

Initial study results have shown that study participants with PD who took the shake experienced an increase in more amino-acids.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s working! The shake may be just the protein boost our PD patients need,\u201d concludes Rodrigues.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the UConn supplement study read the study flyer,<\/a> and contact Carlos Rehbein: +1 (860)-634-8203<\/a>, email: <\/em><\/strong>movementforlifelab@gmail.com<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UConn Health Parkinson’s disease patients like Jose Figueroa are experiencing the power of a UConn-made protein shake being tested by the UConn research team in an FDA clinical study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":249144,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2284,2299,2674,2076,1868,179,2225,2233],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1873],"class_list":["post-249137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brain-spine-institute","category-kinesiology","category-patient-success","category-research","category-meds","category-uconn-health","category-uconn-storrs","category-university-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-05 16:30:59","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249137"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":249151,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249137\/revisions\/249151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/249144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249137"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=249137"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=249137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}