Edith Cowan University
Parkinsons Centre

Collaborators

The Neurofinity Surgical NeuroDiscovery Group

Neurofinity Surgical NeuroDiscovery Group

The Neurofinity Surgical NeuroDiscovery Group is an academic neurosurgery research group established as a joint initiative of the West Australian Neurosurgical Service and the Centre for Neuromuscular & Neurological Disorders at the University of Western Australia. Mr. Chris Lind established the group after taking responsibility for Functional Neurosurgery at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in 2007 and taking up a Clinical Senior Lectureship in the University of Western Australia in 2008.

Together we are establishing a laboratory programme of translational research in which surgical delivery of modified stem cells can be optimised and the differentiation of stem cells into functioning neurons can be assessed in animal models of Parkinson's disease. We have high hopes that this collaboration may lead to early clinical trials of innovative new therapies aimed at neuroprotection or cell replacement in Parkinson's disease.

Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair – Dr Roger Barker

Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair

Dr Barker established the Parkinson's Disease Research Clinic at the Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair. The clinic is recruiting all cases of Parkinsonism in the East Anglia region. This includes an incident cohort that was collected between 2002 and 2002 and totals around 160 patients, along with a prevalent cohort of 600 to 700 patients, all of whom are being followed longitudinally. The main aim of the study is to define the different type of Parkinson's disease and their neurobiological basis and involves assessing patients clinically, blood sampling with DNA analysis looking for genetic risk factors, along with functional imaging and ultimately post mortem analysis of the brains.

In collaboration with a number of centres, this project has so far defined that there appear to be different groups of Parkinson's both clinically and on functional imaging. In addition, they have begun identifying genetic risk factors as well as disease modifying genes that impinge and influence these different clinical phenotypes.