Early research suggests groundbreaking changes afoot for Parkinson’s
Parkinson’s is a neurological condition that affects many elements of day to day functionality, changing a person’s experience of their everyday life. One of these elements is movement, with freezing, stumbling and falling all common symptoms of Parkinson’s. A recent pilot study in Canada has seen some radical changes in patient’s walking, resulting from electrical […]
Getting prepped – where will your project take you?
The Neurology Academy’s unique blend of education puts a heavy emphasis on the practical, and integral to our Parkinson’s Advanced MasterClasses is the inter-module project. For some this can be an exciting opportunity to get stuck into an audit, or service development project that they have been waiting impatiently to carry out, but for others it […]
Brain Awareness Week 2019: Parkinson’s disease
Brain Awareness Week (BAW) coordinated by the Dana Foundation, is an opportunity for partners around the globe to share their research and educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the brain and the promise of brain research. The Neurology Academy, as neurological educators, are keen to cover as broad a picture of a condition […]
What’s next in Research Engagement? You tell us!
6th December 2018 saw the Parkinson’s Academy team up with The Cure Parkinson’s Trust for our first ever dedicated research engagement. The highly-rated event covering a range of topics from the getting a project off the ground to the challenges faced, from engaging people with Parkinson’s to ensuring a project is deliverable. Established and reputable […]
Last chance to enter the UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network Awards
There is still time to enter your service team for the 2019 UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network Conference and Awards. Showcase the great care your team is delivering and help make it standard for people affected by Parkinson’s across the UK. All Parkinson’s Advanced MasterClass delegates are invited to submit improvement projects as an award entry […]
Is disease modification in Parkinson’s a reality?
CPT’s Dr Richard Wyse opened the meeting by discussing whether disease modification in Parkinson’s could be a reality. As we know, Parkinson’s symptomatic therapies have many imperfections. Encouragingly there is research into both better symptomatic and disease modifying treatments. At CPT however our sole focus is to is to halt progression of the disease and ultimately to reverse it. The charity has preclinical and regenerative medicine programmes, but it also [...]
Finding research; how you can find out about Parkinson’s research opportunities
The final session was presented by Parkinson’s UK’s Amelia Hursey who shared the charity’s new online trial resource called Taking Part which lists studies made searchable by postcode. The site was designed following detailed research with PwP (people with Parkinson's) who revealed that 70% of PwPs want to take part in research but only 24% have taken part. Many PwPs reported that they wanted to hear about [...]
Recruiting to research: Not all research is for everyone but there is something for everyone
With the group, Jemma explored the obstacles to recruitment, highlighting that practical barriers such as visits to the clinic, travel, logistics, balancing clinical appointments with the demands of life, were all barriers. Additional concerns were medication (the fact that potential participants might be asked to take even more medication) and the way to [...]
PwP perspectives: Why research? Presenting the information? How best to engage PwP with research, including PPI?
The afternoon focused on involving people in research, starting with two talks reflecting the perspectives of two PwP (people with Parkinson's): Why research? Presenting information and How best to engage PwP with research. Vicki Dillon’s powerful speech started by explaining her involvement in research, and in particular in a clinical trial. She called for more support during and after trials and the need to mentor/buddy patients and their [...]
The Study Life Cycle: From research idea to successful study closure… and everything in between: case study UDCA
Professor Oliver Bandmann explored the Study Cycle – from research idea to successful study closure. Professor Bandmann has been working for the last 10 years to identify potential drugs that might target mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson’s. Given that animal models in Parkinson’s are imperfect, the team in Sheffield tested 2,000 drugs in genetically stratified patient tissue – tissue from people living with Parkinson’s (PwP) with [...]
