Rutgers Health leaders establish endowed professorship to advance Parkinson’s disease research
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Middlesex County) — Two Rutgers Health leaders have established an endowed professorship dedicated to advancing Parkinson’s disease research, with the long-term goal of developing better treatments and ultimately finding a cure.
M. Maral Mouradian, a Distinguished Professor of Neurology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and her husband, Suhayl Dhib-Jalbut, a neurologist and multiple sclerosis researcher, made the gift to establish the M. Maral Mouradian and Suhayl Dhib-Jalbut Family Endowed Legacy Professorship.
The position will support tenured or tenure-track scholars in the Department of Neurology who focus specifically on Parkinson’s disease research. It is expected to become a faculty position at the future Rutgers School of Medicine, pending accreditation approval for the new school that will unite Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New Jersey Medical School.
Mouradian, founding director of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Institute for Neurological Therapeutics and vice chancellor for faculty development at Rutgers Health, has spent decades researching Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurological disorder affecting more than 10 million people worldwide.
“Parkinson’s disease is my passion more than a profession,” says Mouradian, a Distinguished Professor of Neurology who is founding director of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) Institute for Neurological Therapeutics and vice chancellor for faculty development at Rutgers Health. “I derive my inspiration from the patients I care for.”
Earlier this year, Mouradian received the Distinguished Collaborative Research Award from the World Parkinson Congress, recognizing her contributions to research on the disease.
According to Mouradian, approximately 1 million people in the United States are living with Parkinson’s disease, with about 90,000 new diagnoses each year. The condition typically develops around age 60 and can begin with tremors, slowed movement or stiffness before progressing to problems involving balance, walking and other bodily functions.
“The economic impact in the country is upward of $83 billion a year, and it impacts not only the patient, but families and society,” she says, noting that one million people in the United States suffer from Parkinson’s and there are 90,000 new diagnoses each year. “It’s a tough disease.”
As the disease progresses, patients may also experience dementia, hallucinations, blood pressure problems and difficulty swallowing. Mouradian said the effects extend beyond patients to their families and the broader community, underscoring the need for continued research and improved treatments.
“This is an important cause for me,” says Mouradian, whose research contributed to the development of novel treatments and has been honored with numerous awards, including being named a fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and elected to the prestigious Association of American Physicians. “This legacy professorship will continue to support someone to do important work for Parkinson’s research and find better treatments and a cure. It has been my life’s work, and I want it to continue after I’m done with my career.”
Mouradian and Dhib-Jalbut’s professional and personal partnership began while they were medical students at the American University of Beirut, where Dhib-Jalbut was two years ahead of Mouradian in his training.
“The first thing that impressed me was her care for patients and her grasp of their medical conditions and treatment plan as a third-year medical student,” Dhib-Jalbut says.
After graduating from medical school, the couple moved to the United States in the early 1980s and trained in neurology at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Both later joined the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where they pursued research in neurological disorders.
Dhib-Jalbut specialized in multiple sclerosis and neuroimmunology, while Mouradian studied experimental treatments for neurodegenerative diseases at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. She also trained in molecular biology under Nobel laureate Marshall Nirenberg at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
In 1990, Mouradian established and led the Genetic Pharmacology research program at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, where she began focusing on Parkinson’s disease.
Dhib-Jalbut joined Rutgers in 2003 and has served as chair of the neurology departments at both Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New Jersey Medical School. He currently holds the Ruth Dunietz Kushner and Michael Jay Serwitz Chair in Multiple Sclerosis and directs the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Center for Multiple Sclerosis.
Both Mouradian and Dhib-Jalbut were named honorary alumni of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in 2019.
Mouradian came to New Jersey to hold the William Dow Lovett Endowed Chair for Parkinson’s Research, a position she continues to occupy. She said that experience demonstrated the importance of endowed faculty positions in attracting researchers and supporting long-term scientific work.
The new legacy professorship was endowed in December and approved by the Rutgers Board of Governors in June, creating a second endowed position focused on Parkinson’s disease research.
“An endowed position can be a recruitment tool,” she says. “I’m a good example of that. The endowed chair that I hold was a major factor in my decision to join RWJMS.”
Through the new professorship, Mouradian and Dhib-Jalbut hope to ensure that research into Parkinson’s disease continues beyond their own careers, supporting future scientists working toward improved treatments and a cure.
