MRC-PPU Researchers host Parkinson's disease Open Day
As part of the MRC's week of Centenary Celebrations, the MRC-PPU held an Open Day on Parkinson's disease to showcase cutting edge research being undertaken at the Unit that one day may lead to new treatments for this devastating condition.
The event, organised in conjunction with the leading charity Parkinson's UK, was hosted by Dario Alessi and Miratul Muqit and saw a record attendance of 60 visitors comprising Parkinson's patients, carers and members of the public. A special visitor was 11-year old Fife schoolboy, Andrew Hornyak, who was inspired to climb a mountain after his mother was diagnosed with Parkinson's. Andrew initially set himself a target of raising £300 to help Parkinson's sufferers as this was 10% of the 3000 feet he climbed, however by the time he climbed Ben Chonzie on April 26th he had exceeded his target and had raised a staggering £2200 for Parkinson's UK research.
The event began with an introduction by Dario on the history and achievements of the MRC and the future mission of the MRC-PPU in tackling common human diseases including neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's. Miratul gave a clinical talk on Parkinson's emphasising the impact of genetics in providing clues to the potential pathways involved. The audience then heard presentations from two PhD students in Miratul's and Dario's labs, Chandana Kondapalli and Agne Kazlauskaite, whose research are both funded by Parkinson's UK. Chandana talked about her latest findings studying the PINK1 kinase whilst Agne explained her studies on the Parkin RING E3 ligase enzyme.
A highlight of the afternoon was a special presentation from Dr Andrew Woodland from the Dundee Drug Discovery Unit who gave an overview on the drug discovery process before exciting the audience with potential strategies to find drugs effective against Parkinson's.
The day ended with tours of the labs in which the visitors were able to see first hand the state-of-the-art facilities housed within the MRC-PPU including the new mass spectrometry suite expertly led by Facilities Manager, Dr David Campbell. The visitors were also led by Andrew and his colleague, Dr Anthony Hope, through the Drug Discovery Unit labs to catch a glimpse of high-throughput robotic technology normally found in medium to large sized pharmaceutical companies.
Overall all the visitors were impressed with the research progress and enthusiasm of the researchers and a big thank you was given on behalf of all who attended by Katherine Crawford, Head of Parkinson's UK in Scotland.
To read more about Andrew's achievements, click here.
The event, organised in conjunction with the leading charity Parkinson's UK, was hosted by Dario Alessi and Miratul Muqit and saw a record attendance of 60 visitors comprising Parkinson's patients, carers and members of the public. A special visitor was 11-year old Fife schoolboy, Andrew Hornyak, who was inspired to climb a mountain after his mother was diagnosed with Parkinson's. Andrew initially set himself a target of raising £300 to help Parkinson's sufferers as this was 10% of the 3000 feet he climbed, however by the time he climbed Ben Chonzie on April 26th he had exceeded his target and had raised a staggering £2200 for Parkinson's UK research.
The event began with an introduction by Dario on the history and achievements of the MRC and the future mission of the MRC-PPU in tackling common human diseases including neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's. Miratul gave a clinical talk on Parkinson's emphasising the impact of genetics in providing clues to the potential pathways involved. The audience then heard presentations from two PhD students in Miratul's and Dario's labs, Chandana Kondapalli and Agne Kazlauskaite, whose research are both funded by Parkinson's UK. Chandana talked about her latest findings studying the PINK1 kinase whilst Agne explained her studies on the Parkin RING E3 ligase enzyme.
A highlight of the afternoon was a special presentation from Dr Andrew Woodland from the Dundee Drug Discovery Unit who gave an overview on the drug discovery process before exciting the audience with potential strategies to find drugs effective against Parkinson's.
The day ended with tours of the labs in which the visitors were able to see first hand the state-of-the-art facilities housed within the MRC-PPU including the new mass spectrometry suite expertly led by Facilities Manager, Dr David Campbell. The visitors were also led by Andrew and his colleague, Dr Anthony Hope, through the Drug Discovery Unit labs to catch a glimpse of high-throughput robotic technology normally found in medium to large sized pharmaceutical companies.
Overall all the visitors were impressed with the research progress and enthusiasm of the researchers and a big thank you was given on behalf of all who attended by Katherine Crawford, Head of Parkinson's UK in Scotland.
To read more about Andrew's achievements, click here.