Date: 17 Sep 2024
Edinburgh Parkinson’s Lecture 2024
Event Notes:
This year’s Edinburgh Parkinson’s Lecture will take place in the evening of Tuesday 17th September before a live audience at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. There is a reception from 6.15pm, with main proceedings starting at 7.10pm. The Lecture will also be streamed live to our online audience.
The 2024 Edinburgh Parkinson’s Lecturer is Richelle Flanagan . The title of Richelle’s Lecture is:
How nutrition and diet can help you live better with Parkinson’s.
Richelle Flanagan is an Irish state-registered Dietitian who has been practising for 18 years. She is a past President of the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute, the professional body for Dietitians in Ireland.
She first noticed her own Parkinson’s symptoms when she was 3 months pregnant with her daughter. She hid her diagnosis for 2 years for fear of the stigma, both socially and career wise.
After attending the World Parkinson Congress in 2019 she was inspired by others with Young Onset Parkinson’s to speak out to drive change in treatment, care and research for People with Parkinson’s. She is now a World Parkinson Congress Ambassador and a member of the Dublin Committee of the Parkinson’s Association of Ireland.
She is particularly passionate about the importance of diet for Parkinson’s and the unmet needs of women with Parkinson’s. She is a co-founder of the Women’s Parkinson’s Project and of My Moves Matter , a digital self-care companion to empower People with Parkinson’s to live better lives.
She has co-authored two diet-related papers on Parkinson’s and is a research partner with the Ulster University at Coleraine on a gut microbiome and Parkinson’s study. She is also part of a consortium which has applied for a Horizon Europe grant to investigate personalised diet and the microbiome in People with Parkinson’s.