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 "Genomic analysis of Parkinson's risk". 

    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 Alpha synuclein animal models
    Dr Benjamin Dehay, Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Bordeaux
    11.30am Speaker to be announced
    11.50am Alpha synuclein auto-antibodies as a bio-marker in Parkinson's
    Dr Rizwan Akhtar, Centre for Neurodegeneration Research, University of Pennsylvania
    12.10pm Speaker to be announced
    12.30pm

    Poster platform presentation/2x 5-minute PhD presentations
    Speaker to be announced

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

    1.30pm Mitochondrial signalling and dysfunction in the nervous system
    Dr Joseph Bateman, King's College London
    1.50pm Mitochondria crosstalk with other organelles
    Dr Miguel Martins, University of Cambridge
    2.10pm Mitochondrial DNA in Parkinson's 
    Dr Charalampos (Haris) Tzoulis, University of Bergen
    2.30pm Alpha synuclein and mitochondria: partners in crime?
    Dr Sonia Gandhi, Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL
    2.50pm 2x 5-minute PhD student presentations
    Speakers to be announced 

    Session 2b - Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in Parkinson's research

    1.30pm Speaker to be announced
    1.50pm Speaker to be announced
    2.10pm Speaker to be announced
    2.30pm Speaker to be announced

    Session 3a - Allied health

    3.30pm Tackling falls in Parkinson's: the when and the how
    Professor Lynn Rochester, Newcastle University
    4pm The PD COMM trial
    Professor Catherine Sackley, King's College London & Dr Cally Rick, University of Birmingham
    4.30pm Panel: Presenting the Parkinson's Exercise Framework
    Dr Bhanu Ramaswamy and the Parkinson's UK Exercise Framework panel

    Session 3b - Drug Discovery in Parkinson's

    3.30pm Speaker to be announced
    3.50pm The story of rucaparib (rubraca)
    Professor Bernard Golding, Newcastle University
    4.10pm Speaker to be announced
    4.30pm Speaker to be announced
    4.50pm The Parkinson's UK Virtual Biotech
    Dr Arthur Roach, Director of Research, Parkinson's UK

    Keynote speaker session

    5pm Genomic analysis of Parkinson's risk
    Professor John Hardy, University College London

    Tuesday 13 November

    Session 4 - Clinical trials

    9am Early diagnostics/prediction of disease onset
    Professor Anette Schrag, University College London
    9.20am Stratifying people for trial entry
    Dr Caroline Williams-Gray, University of Cambridge
    9.40am Novel methods to reduce drug discovery times: machine learning from biochemical datasets
    Jaime Domingues and Rabia Khan, BenelovantAI
    10am Is stratification based on clinical presentation realistic? 
    Professor Michele Hu, Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre
    10.20am Poster platform presentation 
    Speaker to be announced

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

    11am In vivo molecular bio-markers to track Parkinson's: current and emerging concepts
    Professor Marios Politis, King's College London
    11.20am MR imaging of the substantia nigra: monitoring progression and novel techniques (like "free water")
    Professor Dorothy Auer, University of Nottingham
    11.40am Critical Path for Parkinson's (CPP): targeting the right patients
    Dr Kenneth Marek, Yale University
    12pm Speaker to be announced
    12.20pm Rapid-fire/poster platform presentation/s
    Speaker/s TBA

    Session 6 - Cell-based therapies

    12.40pm Cell based approaches to the treatment of Parkinson's
    Professor Lorenz Studer, Center for Stem Cell Biology, Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

    Closing statement, feedback and lunch

    1.30pm Conference closing statement
    1.50pm Feedback session
    1.55pm Lunch (optional)

    REGISTRATION

    Registration is now open.

    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

    Abstracts

    Abstract submissions are now closed. 

    Abstract submission guidelines

    Download our abstract submission guidelines.

    Abstract submission guidelines - Parkinson's UK Research Conference 2018
    Download
    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: