KNI at the forefront of groundbreaking research

At UK’s Kentucky Neuroscience Institute, research is at the heart of what we do. With our strength and commitment to clinical trial and basic science research, we uncover new and innovative approaches to neurological challenges, increase understanding and knowledge about these conditions, and provide state-of-the-art treatments to our patients across Kentucky and the region.

Dr. Ed Kasarskis with Debbie Taylor

Dr. Ed Kasarskis has traveled the region on his “Blood and BBQ” road trips, attending the gatherings of one Appalachian family that carries a gene mutation known to cause ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. He collects blood samples, skin biopsies and histories from members of the family willing to assist in his research.

Read about how we're using genealogy websites to track a different kind of killer: ALS.

A physician looks at a stroke patient's images.

What if we could reverse the effects of stroke? UK HealthCare is working to do just that. Dr. Justin Fraser, surgical director of UK HealthCare’s Comprehensive Stroke Center, has teamed with UK HealthCare’s Center for Advanced Translational Stroke Science, to find ways to reverse the damage caused by stroke.

Read about how we're providing innovative stroke care through clinical trials.

Ann Hanley, Dr. Craig van Horne, Dr. George Quintero, Dr. Greg Gerhardt

Physician-scientists and researchers at UK HealthCare’s Brain Restoration Center have begun a first-of-its-kind clinical study aimed at stopping or reversing the effects of Parkinson’s disease. The study combines the established treatment  – electrode-implanting surgery known as Deep Brain Stimulation, or DBS – with an experimental nerve-grafting procedure.

Read about how this procedure, available only at UK, targets Parkinson's symptoms.

 
Researchers looking at computers

Over three decades, the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging has been on the frontlines of the Alzheimer’s fight. It has emerged as one of the nation’s leading centers on memory disorders and Alzheimer’s research, a disease that kills more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.

Learn about the research, education and outreach conducted by the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging.

 

Without our dedicated researchers, leading-edge resources, and the patients who volunteer as trial participants and sample donors, we wouldn’t have many of the treatments and research knowledge that we routinely use today to help patients live longer and better lives.