Event | Parkinson's Research Event and Laboratory Tours at Dundee University

Key Facts

Date:
Monday, November 7, 2022 - 13:30
Venue:
The Dundee University Life Sciences Building, Dow Street, Dundee
Speakers:
Professor Dario Alessi, Science Director of the Dundee University MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitation Unit
Professor David Dexter, Associate Research Director at parkinson's UK (and Professor of Neurology at Imperial College London)
David Michelson, Secretary of the West of Scotland Research Interest Group

On Monday, 7 November, please join Parkinson's UK, the Scottish Research Interest Groups, and the Dundee Parkinson's Research Team for an exciting afternoon in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee:

The event will include:

  • A tour of our research laboratories
  • Updates on the Parkinson's research being undertaken at the University of Dundee
  • Presentations from the Scottish Research Interest Groups and how we work together
  • Updates from senior leaders from Parkinson's UK, including Caroline Rassell, Chief Executive, Professor David Dexter, Associate Director of Research, and James Jopling, Country Director for Scotland, sharing Parkinson's UK's ambitions, research strategy and funding opportunities
  • Plenty of time for networking and discussion

There will be refreshments and the opportunity to ask questions.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact Liz Nash, Parkinson's UK's Research Support Network Manager (lnash@parkinsons.org.uk or 0207 963 9398) or Dr Esther Sammler, Clinician Scientists at the University of Dundee (mrc-admin@dundee.ac.uk)

Report on Event

This event was a sell out!  Thankfully we managed to squeeze in everyone who expressed an interest in attending; we were treated to a fascinating afternoon at the MRC PPU's laboratories in Dundee University's, state of the art, Life Sciences Building.  The Group heard from:

Prof. Dario Alessi about "The long journey from basic science to clinical trials" in relation to LRRK2 inhibitors in Parkinson's Disease;

David Michelson, from the West of Scotland Research Interest Group (RIG), introduced the concept of Parkinson's UK's local RIGs and described the work being done by the four RIGs in Scotland (the other three being Edinburgh (ERIG), Dundee and area (DRIG) and the North of Scotland (NoSPRIG)); and

Prof. David Dexter on the research programme funded by Parkinson's UK and its aims for the future.

We were also offered tours of some key parts of the laboratories with a choice of following Dr Sara Gomes, who's key interest is translating PD reserach from the laboratory to the clinic, to the MRC Protein Phosphoylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, to see a facility where researchers can grow cells under sterile conditions, to use to model the PD conditions and help to identify which molecular pathways are switched on and off under which conditions; or Dr Andy Howden, who researches on links between the immune system and disease, in particular PD and Alzheimer's, to the impressive Mass-spectrometry facility; or Dr Will Farnaby, who's key focus is identifying molecules that can specifically degrade or stabalise proteins that drive neurodegenerative diseseases, gave access to the Drug Discovery Unit, where work on identifying certain molecules could lead to break throughs in potential drug development.

Participants were able to listen to and chat through with researchers the details of their work. It was an amazing opportunity to see the scientists in action and gain some further insight into the sort of work that is being undertaken here in Dundee.  We were supported on the tours by a team of helpful under and post-graduate students, who also talked to us about their work and, equally, found it very useful to meet and discuss their research with People with Parkinson's, bringing the importance of their work much more into focus for them.

 

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