Prof. Avraham Ashkenazi Awarded 2026 ERC Synergy Grant for Parkinson’s Disease Research

Prof. Avraham Ashkenazi of Tel Aviv University’s Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience has been awarded a 2026 European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant for a collaborative project investigating a new hypothesis about the origins of Parkinson’s disease.

ERC Synergy Grants support ambitious research projects that bring together leading scientists with complementary expertise to address complex scientific questions.

The project, titled The Hidden Entry: How Skin and Environment Shape Parkinson’s Disease, will investigate whether Parkinson’s disease may begin in nerve endings in the skin, years before the appearance of its characteristic motor symptoms.

The researchers will examine whether prolonged exposure to environmental factors can cause early damage to neurons of the sympathetic nervous system, which helps regulate essential bodily functions, including heart activity and blood pressure.

Prof. Ashkenazi will collaborate with Prof. Nathalie Van Den Berge and Prof. Per Borghammer of Aarhus University in Denmark.

He will lead the molecular research component, using human stem cell-derived neurons and advanced laboratory technologies that model neural systems. Together with experimental models and clinical studies, these approaches will help the team investigate the early molecular and cellular mechanisms that may contribute to the development of Parkinson’s disease.

By examining how environmental exposures may affect peripheral nerve cells, the project aims to deepen our understanding of the disease’s earliest stages and potentially lay the groundwork for earlier diagnosis and new preventive strategies.

Congratulations to Prof. Ashkenazi and his research partners on receiving the ERC Synergy Grant.