This newest WPC Research Spotlight series has six outstanding scientists from four countries lined up to talk about a wide range of very exciting research. The series will cover new possible non-dopaminergic treatments in the pipeline, the role alpha synuclein plays (or doesn’t play) in nonmotor symptoms such as cognitive decline, pre-clinical research on dyskinesia to help us understand what basic researchers are seeing and learning about this challenging symptom, what we can learn about prodromal PD, especially when these sometimes very early symptoms occur well before a diagnosis is formally made, and other talks will look at the role of inflammation in Parkinson’s and what key pathology we should be looking at to better understand the disease.
Each interview introduces areas of research that need more exploration and more funding. Watch the talks once, or many times, and be sure to share the links with others. Talks will be broadcast live on zoom, on FB Live, and then archived on YouTube. We need to support our research community so they can find new therapies and unlock the mysteries of Parkinson’s.
Research Spotlight series made possible with support from Supernus Pharmaceuticals and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America.
Interviewer: Roger Barker, BA, MBBS, PhD, MRCP, FMedSci
WPC President and Board member Professor of Clinical
Neuroscience and Honorary Consultant in Neurology at the University of Cambridge and at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge UK. He trained at Oxford and London and has been in his current position for over 20 years having completed an MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship just prior to this. Read his full bio.
AGENDA
Spotlight #1: Tuesday, February 13, 2024 - The rise of 5-HT: how serotonin could change PD therapy Spotlight #2: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 - Does α-synuclein contribute to cognitive and psychiatric symptoms of Parkinson’s? Spotlight #3: Wednesday,
June 5, 2024 - Pre-clinical models of levodopa-induced dyskinesia Spotlight #4: Tuesday, September 3, 2024 - What is the key pathology to Parkinson’s Spotlight #5: Tuesday, October 8, 2024 -
Update on prodromal Parkinson’s Spotlight #6: Tuesday, December 3, 2024 - Inflammation in Parkinson’s
Dr. Newman-Trancredi talks about research his team is doing to find a new non-dopaminergic treatment for Parkinson’s and more.
Researcher: Adrian Newman-Tancredi, PhD, DSc, Neurolixis, France is a neuroscience researcher with over 30 years' experience, Co-Founder and CEO of a bioscience company, Neurolixis, which develops drugs for treatment of CNS disorders. He was previously Director of Neurobiology at Pierre Fabre, and Senior Scientist at Servier and has published over 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and is co-inventor on a dozen patents. Dr. Newman-Tancredi's principal current focus is the development of the first-in-class serotonin 'biased agonists' NLX-112 (befiradol) for movement disorders, NLX-101 for autism spectrum disorders and NLX-204 for pain and depression. Twitter: @newman_tancredi
Dr. Volpicelli-Daley shares her research on alpha-synuclein and the role it may play (or may not play) in non-motor cognitive symptoms in Parkinson’s and more.
Researcher: Laura Volpicelli-Daley, PhD, University of Alabama, USA is Associate Professor in the department of Neurology at University of Alabama, Birmingham and the Parkinson’s Association of Alabama Endowed Chair. Her lab is interested in how formation of α-synuclein inclusions impacts motor and cognitive phenotypes in Parkinson’s Disease. They are particularly interested in how abnormal α-synuclein disrupts function of brain regions related to cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. Their research also focuses on how mutations in genes implicated in PD, particularly GBA1, influence α-synuclein inclusion formation and cognition. Twitter: @lvolpic
Dr. Huot shares his research to better understand the cause of dyskinesia in Parkinson’s.
Researcher: Dr. Huot is Associate Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University, Scientist at The Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital (The Neuro) and Movement Disorder Neurologist at McGill University Health Centre. Dr Huot’s research focusses on discovering novel therapeutics for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Kordower share his research on the pathology of Parkinson’s.
Researcher: Jeffrey Kordower, PhD, is the founding director of the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center and endowed chair as The Charlene and J. Orin Edson Distinguished Director at the Biodesign Institute at ASU. He has been a pioneer in the field of neural transplantation techniques and his pathbreaking investigations into the underpinnings of neurodegenerative disease have made him a leader in the field. Kordower’s interests include the study of gene and stem cell therapies, disease pathogenesis including the morphological and molecular changes during the course of neurodegeneration, learning and memory, and aging. He has also been a pioneer in the field of neural transplantation techniques. He comes to ASU from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, where he was faculty member for more than 30 years. Twitter: @JKordower
Dr. Hu spoke about prodromal Parkinson’s, what we know and how we are approaching these early (sometimes very early) symptoms and what the future holds for early detection and early treatment.
Researcher: Dr. Hu is a Consultant Neurologist at Oxford University Hospitals, and Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford. Her clinical work focuses on Parkinson's disease and related movement disorders. Her research within the Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre (https://www.opdc.ox.ac.uk) looks at longitudinal cohort studies and biomarkers for early and prodromal Parkinson’s disease, with particular focus on REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) and how sleep affects neurodegeneration. Interests include the delivery of tractable, low cost, wearable technology that has a real impact on patient’s daily lives, and imaging the human brain from prodromal to established Parkinson’s. Twitter: @ProfMicheleHu
WPC Blog post: Inflammation in Parkinson’s disease Join this talk to hear Dr. Tansey and Janna Jernigan, PhD speak
about the role of inflammation in Parkinson’s, what the research is
telling us and what the future may hold for addressing inflammation.
Researcher: Malú Gámez Tansey, PhD is the Norman and Susan Fixel Chair in Neuroscience and Neurology and former Director of the Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease at the University of Florida. Her lab focuses on the role of inflammation and immune system responses in brain health and neurodegenerative disease with a long-term goal of developing better therapies to prevent and/or delay these diseases. Dr. Tansey obtained her B.S/M.S in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in Cell Regulation from UT Southwestern followed by post-doctoral work in neuroscience at Washington University. As head of Chemical Genetics at Xencor, she co-invented novel soluble TNF inhibitors that have now advanced to clinical trials in Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Tansey is a fierce advocate for women and other under-represented groups in STEM and has earned several mentoring awards from students and faculty for her efforts in this area. Twitter: @MaluTansey
