---
title: Improve walking with red light
nct_id: NCT06916260
phase: NA
status: RECRUITING
sponsor: University of Delaware
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT06916260"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06916260"
last_fetched: "2026-05-10T14:08:33.516Z"
source: "Parkinson's Pathways (curated)"
---
# Improve walking with red light

**Goal (in five words):** Improve walking with red light

**Official Title:** Light Therapy Intervention in Individuals With Parkinson's Disease

**Trial ID:** [NCT06916260](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06916260)

## Key Facts

- **Phase:** NA
- **Status:** RECRUITING
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Sponsor:** University of Delaware
- **Target Enrollment:** 20 participants
- **Start Date:** 2025-04-04
- **Completion Date:** 2026-01-29
- **Conditions:** Parkinson Disease
- **Interventions:** Red Light (PDT), Placebo
- **Intervention Types:** DEVICE

## Summary For Families

The goal is to see whether repeated red light therapy can improve motor symptoms, walking endurance, and related problems in people with Parkinson's by helping brain and muscle cells work better. The approach uses low-level red light phototherapy versus a placebo light, aiming to boost mitochondrial energy production and reduce inflammation so nerve cells function more effectively, and it would be used alongside, not instead of, levodopa if helpful. They are enrolling people aged 50 to 80 with a Parkinson's diagnosis who can walk unassisted for 2 minutes and who can briefly stop PD meds for testing, and they exclude folks with DBS, photosensitivity, recent head or neck injuries, other neurological conditions, cancer history, or certain psychiatric disorders.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 50 Years
- **Maximum age:** 80 Years
- **Sex:** ALL

### Full Criteria

```
Inclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of Parkinson disease

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Participants who are unable to comply with study visit/testing requirements (e.g.

   participants who cannot go off PD medication for the pre-, post-, and 3-month assessments).
2. Participants who are unable to provide consent.
3. Participants with a Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) device.
4. Participants who have a history of a psychiatric disorder
5. Participants with PD who have other concurrent movement/neurological conditions, including dystonia, dementia, epilepsy etc.
6. Participants with a clinical diagnosis of PD that is not considered primary (e.g.

   vascular parkinsonism) or participants where an atypical form of parkinsonism is suspected (e.g., progressive supranuclear palsy, multiple system atrophy).
7. Participants with a history of cancer (whether treated with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy or not).
8. Participants with a history of a recent concussion or any facial, neck, or head injury within the last 6 months. UD IRB Approved: 03/12/2025 IRBNet ID#: 2277769-2 I/C from Rev. 01/2024 Page 3 of 10 Participant's Initial's \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
9. Known injury or disease that might interfere with motor function in the proposed experiments (e.g., stroke, traumatic brain injury, extrapyramidal dysfunction, neuromuscular disease, orthopedic problems that impair movement).
10. Participants with a history of photosensitivity.
11. Participants who are not able to walk unassisted for 2 minutes
```

## Locations (1)

- University of Delaware STAR Tower, Newark, Delaware, United States _(39.6837, -75.7497)_
  - Sara Penuela, PhD Student — (CONTACT) — 973-974-0120 — penuelas@udel.edu
  - John Jeka, PdD — (CONTACT) — jjeka@udel.edu
  - sara Penuela, PhD student — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
  - John Jeka, PhD — (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Roxana Burciu, PhD — (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Thomas Buckley, PhED — (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)

## Central Contacts

- Sara Penuela, PhD student — (CONTACT) — 9739740120 — penuelas@udel.edu
- Roxana Burciu, PhD, Associative Professor — (CONTACT) — rgburciu@udel.edu

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT06916260*  
*HTML version: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT06916260*  
*Source data: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06916260*