Who We Are - ParkC
The Parkinson's Centre (ParkC) is a new research centre based in Western Australia at Edith Cowan University’s Joondalup Campus. ParkC is founded on collaborative partnerships between the Cambridge Parkinson’s Disease Research Clinic, University of Western Australia, Curtin University of Technology, and the Parkinson’s Association of Western Australia.
ParkC aims to improve the diagnosis, care, wellbeing, and quality of life for people with Parkinson's and their families through research.
Our Vision
ParkC’s vision is to better understand Parkinson's so that we can significantly improve the life of those with Parkinson’s, and their careers, through research and education in the search for a cure.
Our Aims
ParkC aims to achieve national and international recognition for excellence in Parkinson’s research. Developing ParkC will be achieved by showcasing research that improves understanding of the disease progression, identifying subtypes of Parkinson’s and what this means prognostically, and influencing `best practice’ for managing and hopefully altering the natural progression of Parkinson’s. The knowledge, experience and skills gained will then be used to inform undergraduate and postgraduate teaching as well as people with Parkinson’s and their carers.
A specific aim of ParkC is to foster high quality research in Parkinson’s and to contribute to the needs of Parkinson’s research at local, national, and international levels. This will be achieved by:
- Continued engagement with Parkinson’s communities
- Collaborative links with other relevant research groups and institutes
- Attracting research funding from competitive grant agencies and industry
- Attracting and supporting research students
- Establishing research programs that include:
- The development of a prospective database to investigate various aspects of Parkinson’s including cognitive functioning, quality of life, mental health, personality, functionality and daily activities, movement symptomatology, genetic predispositions, and the relationship between motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s. This will lay the foundation not only for better understanding the heterogeneity of Parkinson’s but also for the translation of novel therapies for patients.
- Interventions that reduce the impact/onset of Parkinson’s.
- Development of treatments such as cell replacement therapies.
