Research Conference 2018

The Parkinson's UK Research Conference is held every 2 years and brings Parkinson's researchers together to share ideas and develop collaborations.

This year's conference will be held at the Principal York Hotel on Monday 12 and Tuesday 13 November, 2018.

Programme

We are delighted to announce that our keynote speaker will be Professor John Hardy, Professor of Neuroscience, University College London who will speak on "Genetic dissection of Parkinson’s". 

    Monday 12 November

    Registration and open

    10am Registration
    11am Welcome to the 2018 Conference
    Dr Arthur Roach, Director of Research, Parkinson's UK

    Session 1 - Alpha synuclein: from animal models to clinical translation

    11.10am Variable selection using machine-learning to identify new signatures of patient-derived aggregated α-synuclein-induced neurodegeneration in non-human primates
    Dr Benjamin Dehay, Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Bordeaux
    11.30am Alpha synuclein auto-antibodies as a bio-marker in Parkinson's
    Dr Rizwan Akhtar, Centre for Neurodegeneration Research, University of Pennsylvania
    11.50am

    Anti-alpha synuclein active immunotherapy in Parkinson’s
    Dr Hui Jing YU, United Neuroscience
    12.10pm

    Quick fire platform presentation: A novel role for SENP3 in iron chelation-induced mitophagy for the treatment of Parkinson’s
    Emily Waters, University of Sheffield
    12.15pm

    Quick fire platform presentation: Automated measures from neuromelanin-sensitive MRI reveal signs of neurodegeneration in Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behaviour Disorder
    Ludovica Griffanti, University of Oxford

    Session 2a - Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress: towards new agents of neuroprotection

    1.20pm Mitochondrial signalling and dysfunction in the nervous system
    Dr Joseph Bateman, King's College London
    1.40pm

    Crosstalk between mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum in models of Parkinson’s 
    Dr Miguel Martins, University of Cambridge
    2pm Nuclear-mitochondrial crosstalk in Parkinson’s
    Dr Charalampos (Haris) Tzoulis, University of Bergen

    2.20pm

    		 Alpha synuclein and mitochondria: partners in crime?
    Dr Sonia Gandhi, Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL
    2.40pm Platform presentation: Dopamine pre- and post-synaptic signalling in a LRRK2 transgenic rodent model of Parkinson's using 18F-Levodpa and 18F-Fallypride PET imaging
    Teresa Delgado-Goni, Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre, University of Oxford

    Session 2b - Drug Discovery in Parkinson's

    1.20pm Artificial intelligence pathways for drug discovery
    Jaime Domingues, BenevolentAI
    1.40pm The story of rucaparib (rubraca)
    Professor Bernard Golding, Newcastle University
    2.05pm Speaker to be announced
    2.25pm Funding models
    Dr Ruth McKernan CBE, The Dementia Discovery Fund
    2.45pm The Parkinson's UK Virtual Biotech
    Dr Arthur Roach, Director of Research, Parkinson's UK

    Session 3a - Allied health

    3.20pm Tackling falls in Parkinson's: the when and the how
    Professor Lynn Rochester, Newcastle University
    3.50pm

    A reflection on the management of a trial of speech and language therapy: PD COMM
    Professor Catherine Sackley, King's College London & Dr Cally Rick, University of Birmingham
    4.20pm Panel: Presenting the Parkinson's Exercise Framework
    Dr Bhanu Ramaswamy OBE and the Parkinson's UK Exercise Framework panel

    Session 3b - Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) workshop

    3.20pm An introduction to Patient and Public Involvement (PPI)
    Dr Natasha Ratcliffe, Research Involvement Manager, Parkinson's UK
    3.45pm Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) case studies and interactive planning session
    Speaker to be announced
    4.15pm Panel session and Q&A
    Speakers to be announced
    4.45pm Summary and close
    Dr Natasha Ratcliffe, Research Involvement Manager, Parkinson's UK

    Keynote speaker session

    5pm

    Genetic dissection of Parkinson’s 
    Professor John Hardy, University College London

    Tuesday 13 November

    Session 4 - Clinical trials

    9.30am Early diagnostics/prediction of disease onset
    Professor Anette Schrag, University College London
    9.50am Stratifying people for trial entry
    Dr Caroline Williams-Gray, University of Cambridge
    10.10am Is stratification based on clinical presentation realistic? 
    Professor Michele Hu, Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre
    10.30am Platform presentation: Co-creation of guidance and quality criteria for patient engagement in the development of clinical interventions - An international multi-stakeholder initiative 
    Katherine Deane, University of East Anglia

    Session 5 - Neuroimaging biomarkers for Parkinson's: where are we?

    11.10am

    In vivo molecular bio-markers to track Parkinson's: current and emerging concepts
    Professor Marios Politis, King's College London
    11.30am

    MR imaging of the substantia nigra: innovative biomarkers to improve diagnosis and monitor disease progression in Parkinson’s
    Professor Dorothy Auer, University of Nottingham
    11.50am

    Imaging in Parkinson's: A tool to target patients and people at risk for Parkinson's
    Dr Kenneth Marek, Yale University
    12.10pm MR imaging of animal models in the context of neurodegenerative disease 
    Dr Ian Harrison, Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, UCL
    12.30pm Platform presentation: Validating alpha synuclein RT-QuIC seeding assay as quantitative biomarker for Parkinson’s 
    Dr Laura Parkkinen, Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre

    Session 6 - Cell-based therapies

    12.40pm

    Developing a human pluripotent-based dopamine neuron replacement therapy for Parkinson's 
    Dr Lorenz Studer, Center for Stem Cell Biology, Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

    Closing statement, feedback and lunch

    1.25pm Conference closing statement
    1.40pm Lunch (optional)

    REGISTRATION

    Registration closes at midnight on Friday 26 October.

    All tickets include:

    • entrance to the conference 
    • gala dinner and drinks reception
    • accommodation (including breakfast) on Monday 12 November
    • lunch and refreshments throughout 

    Ticketing process

    To purchase a ticket:

    1. Email [email protected] with:
      1. Your name
      2. Number and type of tickets required (see below)
      3. Your institution/company
    2. You will then receive a link and access code to our ticketing website.

    Ticket types

    registration (Tuesday 17 July - Monday 5 November)

    • Student - £120
    • Researcher/healthcare professional - £305.50
    • Commercial organisation - £435

    POSTER ABSTRACTs 

    Plan your conference by viewing the poster index and presentation times here

    Audiences at the research conference

    Latest information

    All announcements on the conference will be made via our e-newsletter Synapse.

    For any questions please contact:

    Tocris Bioscience

    Our exhibitors

    Tocris Bioscience, the leading supplier of high performance life science reagents, are valued sponsors of the Parkinson’s UK Research Conference 2018.

    Tocris has been providing the life science community with the latest and most innovative research tools for over 30 years.

    Visit the Tocris website