The quest to cure Parkinson’s

Around 1 in every 375 adults live with Parkinson’s disease in Scotland with about 30 people diagnosed each week. The current treatments have not changed in over 60 years and only treat the symptoms, not the disease. Scientists and clinicians at the University of Dundee are aiming to change that and are making significant advances in understanding this disease with the assistance of those living with Parkinson’s.

In this panel discussion, we will discuss the latest research taking place in Dundee and the real-world impacts it will have.

Speakers:

Dr Esther Sammler

Clinical Programme Leader at the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant, School of Medicine, University of Dundee

Dr Esther Sammler graduated from medical school at the Ludwig Maximilian’s University in Munich in 2002. Following clinical experience, she embarked on a career in neurology at the University of Heidelberg.

Esther moved to Scotland and completed a Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD fellowship at the University of Dundee in 2014. She was appointed Consultant Neurologist in 2016 and set up translational links between the MRC PPU and the neurology department at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee. Her clinical interests include movement disorders, in particular Parkinson’s disease and related Parkinsonian syndromes as well as neurogenetics.

Professor Miratul Muqit FRSE

Professor of Experimental Neurology, University of Dundee and Honorary Consultant Neurologist at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee

Miratul graduated in Medicine with Honours from the University of Edinburgh in 1997. He obtained his PhD in 2007 from the UCL Institute of Neurology where he made a major contribution to the discovery of PINK1 kinase mutations in Parkinson’s disease. Miratul joined the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit (MRC PPU) in 2008 to investigate how PINK1 mutations lead to neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s. He continues his clinical work as an Honorary Consultant Neurologist at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.

Dr Xingui Liu

Marie Curie fellow

Xingui is currently a Marie Curie fellow in Prof. Alessio Ciulli FRSE’s lab at the Centre for Targeted Protein Degradation. She is focusing her research on developing PROTAC degraders of Leucine Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2), a promising target for Parkinson’s disease. Before joining the Ciulli group, she was a Postdoc associate at the University of Florida where she was part of a team that developed BCL-XL/BCL-2 PROTAC degrader molecules. One of which was licensed to the Dialectic Therapeutics and advanced into the clinic trials for the treatment of hematological malignancies.

Important points to note:

• This event is suitable for age 16+
• This event is broadly a positive event about the research being done to help try and cure Parkinson’s however aspects of of living with Parkinson’s disease and it the symptom’s of living with disease may be covered. And to some this could be distressing.
• Accessibility statement: We aim to make events as accessible as possible. If you have any accessibility requirements or any questions about how we can support this event, please contact public_engagement@theRSE.org.uk