China will have half of newly-diagnosed Parkinson’s disease cases in the next decade: Nobel Laureate
(First row from left): Andrew Ollett, Nikhil Agarwal, Sushant Sachdeva, Infosys trustees with Chief Guest Randy Schekman, Anjana Badrinarayanan, Sabyasachi Mukerjee and Karthish Manthiram (Second row from left) – Salil Parekh, SD Shibulal, Nandan Nilekani, Narayana Murthy, K. Dinesh, Kris Gopalakrishnan and TV Mohandas Pai on Saturday During the Infosys Award 2025 ceremony at Taj West End in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J.
China will account for more than half of the newly diagnosed cases of Parkinson’s disease in the next decade, Nobel Prize winner Randy Schekman said Saturday.
Speaking at the 2025 Infosys Awards ceremony, Dr. D., a professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. The burden of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions is increasing, Schekman said.
like an epidemic
“Parkinson’s, like the pandemic, is a worldwide problem, it knows no borders. It is estimated that more than half of new Parkinson’s disease cases will be diagnosed in China in the next decade. This is not due to better diagnosis, but perhaps environmental concerns,” said Dr. Schekman. Schekman.
He said there were 4.1 million people with Parkinson’s disease in 2005, of which 48% came from China, 20% from Europe, 8% from India and the USA, 4% from Brazil, and others accounted for 12% of cases.
It is estimated that 8.7 million people will be affected in 2030; 57% of these will be from China, 14% from Europe, 8% from India, 7% from the USA, 4% from Brazil and 10% from other countries.
Schekman also talked about his late wife Nancy Walls’ battle with Parkinson’s disease and how it affected her family.
Role of ASAP
He also highlighted the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s Disease (ASAP) study, which aims to create a research roadmap that identifies large-scale, innovative solutions to address key knowledge gaps in the fundamental understanding of how Parkinson’s disease develops and progresses.
“We have five more years in this program. We have breakthroughs that set goals that I believe the pharmaceutical industry will adopt in finding more effective treatments, and when I leave this program in five years, I will leave behind confidence in breakthroughs that will make a difference in the lives of those affected by these diseases,” he said.
Awards
Dr. Schekman also presented the Infosys Award 2025 to the winners at the event.
The award is given in six categories and the winners in each category are Nikhil Agarwal (Economics), Sushant Sachdeva (Engineering and Computer Science), Andrew Ollett (Humanities and Social Sciences), Anjana Badrinarayanan (Life Sciences), Sabyasachi Mukherjee (Mathematical Sciences) and Karthish Manthiram (Physical Sciences).
The prize for each category consists of a gold medal, a citation and a prize purse worth US$100,000 (or equivalent in rupees).
It was published – 10 January 2026 22:03 IST
