NCRI News

Professor Francesca Morgante featured in an article recently in Parliament Magazine titled 'Shifting the dial on Parkinson's care in Europe'. Francesca has been working as a representative of the International Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Society in writing a Call to Action to improve care for people with Parkinson's disease addressed to European Policy Makers. Co-authors include representatives from Parkinson's UK, Parkinson's Europe, EFNA and AbbVie.

Parkinson's disease is the third most common cause of disability and premature death in the EU and the fastest growing neurodegenerative disease globally. Europe is facing the challenge of providing care for people with this complex disease which affects movement, mental health and cognitive functions.

“A multidisciplinary team with a holistic approach and expertise in advanced therapies can impact on quality of life in people with Parkinson. That is the only solution to deal with the complexities of Parkinson’s disease and ensure access to advanced treatments.” - Professor Francesca Morgante.

Francesca is working closely with the Parkinson's patients' association to reach policymakers in the EU and improve access to advanced therapies for PD.

Dr Lucia Ricciardi was invited to speak at the International Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Society Congress in Philadelphia. Lucia was invited to speak on 'Neuropsychiatric symptoms in people with Parkinson's disease', which generated great interest and online interviews including this feature in Neurology Live.

At the conference, Dr Ricciardi was awarded the prize for Best Review Article of the Year for her systematic review and meta-analysis of subjective cognitive complaints in Parkinson’s disease.

 

Dr Glenn Nielsen has published the findings of a clinical trial of specialist physiotherapy for Functional Motor Disorder in The Lancet Neurology. The trial has featured in a recent Neurology podcast and an article in Neurology Today.

Under Professor Atticus Hainsworth, City St George’s is now part of a new £3 million Alzheimer’s Society Doctoral Training Centre for Vascular and Immune Contributors to Dementia. Together with the University of Manchester, Imperial College London and University of Edinburgh, the Centre will attract 29 talented scientists into the field of dementia research. Every year for the next five years, the NCRI will be home to at least one Alzheimer’s PhD student.

Dr Emma Matthews has published the findings of a Phase 3 trial in The Lancet Neurology, which compared mexiletine and lamotrigine in the treatment of non-dystrophic myotonias.

Mexiletine versus lamotrigine in non-dystrophic myotonias: a randomised, double-blind, head-to-head, crossover, non-inferiority, phase 3 trial by Vivekanandam, V, Skorupinska, I, Jayaseelan, DL, Matthews, E, Barohn, RJ McDermott, MP, Hanna, MG.

 

Dr Soo-Hyun Kim has been awarded an international collaboration grant funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), with a total budget of £1.2 million. Soo is the UK lead PI with co-investigator Dr Constantino Carlos Reyes-Aldasoro from the City St George's School of Science and Technology, and Professor Dot Bennett as collaborator. Their project is titled “Global Joint Research Center for the Development of Innovative Technology for Controlling Aging Based on Primary Cilia Metabolism".

"The project takes an innovative approach to studying cellular aging by exploring novel biomarkers through advanced imaging technology. This unique initiative also provides an opportunity to showcase our research excellence on an international platform through a long-term partnership between the UK and Korea." - Dr Soo-Hyun Kim

 

Dr Francesc Miralles published a paper recently in the American Chemical Society's publication ACS Omega, presenting the findings of a study on the mechanisms by which hypoxia - when tumour cells are deprived of oxygen - influences the progression and therapeutic resistance of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). PDAC is a highly aggressive and deadly cancer representing 90% of all pancreatic tumours.

Understanding the mechanisms by which hypoxia influences PDAC biology is crucial for developing targeted therapies aimed at mitigating hypoxia-driven tumour progression and improving patient outcomes.

miR-210 Mediated Hypoxic Responses in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma by Maria Mortoglou, Mutian Lian, Francesc Miralles, D. Alwyn DartPinar, and Uysal-Onganer.

 

Professor Mark Fisher published findings on a new ultra-high precision x-ray scattering technique to unveil the location and identity of metal ions in bacteria that are crucial for antibiotics to work optimally. The research, published in PNAS, was co-led by Professor Mark Fisher in collaboration with scientists at Imperial College London and the Diamond Light Source.

By using X-ray beams at two defined energies, the team determined the exact location of drug- and enzyme-bound magnesium ions, and in a world-first, they identified the presence of potassium and chloride ions in the enzyme complex. This breakthrough could initiate the development of new antibacterial drugs for an array of diseases.

'Experimental localization of metal-binding sites reveals the role of metal ions in type II DNA topoisomerases'. By Beijia Wang, Shabir Najmudin, Xiao-Su Pan, Vitaliy Mykhaylyk, Christian Orr, Armin Wagner, Lata Govada, Naomi E. Chayen, L. Mark Fisher, and Mark R. Sanderson. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.