The North of Scotland Parkinson’s Research Podcast Series

Exercise is often described as being one of the most important tools for managing Parkinson’s, yet many people find it difficult to start or sustain.  In the podcast's first international episode Dr Hanan Khalil, Professor in Physiotherapy at Qatar University explains her extensive research into the barriers that can prevent people with Parkinson's from exercising regularly and keeping it up, and...

One of the challenges facing so much Parkinson's research is that it is incredibly difficult to study the dopamine producing cells which are failing, because they are buried deep within the brain. To overcome this problem Dr Charmaine Lang from the University of Oxford harvests skin cells from people with Parkinson's in order to grow them into brain cells in the laboratory and study them. She hope...

In this World Parkinson's Day Special Episode Julie and Helga look back at a selection of the diverse range of Parkinson's research projects the podcast has featured. Listen for news about some big changes ahead for the podcast which is now listened to in more than seventy countries worldwide. This World Parkinson's Day Julie and Helga's message is 'Together we can all help research projects progr...

Professor Heather Mortiboys, Head of Neuroscience and Deputy Dean of the School of Medicine and Population Health at the University of Sheffield is pushing the boundaries of Parkinson's research and drug discovery from every direction. With a particular focus on mitochondria, she has been at the cutting edge of pre-clinical and clinical research, working with cells to develop to models for testing...

Parkinson's UK Virtual Biotech launched in 2017 funded by donors from across the world, with the aim of speeding up research to reduce the  timescale for finding new treatments from decades down to years.   Over £130m has been invested in high-potential early-stage projects, many of which are now 'coming-of-age' and in the final stages of clinical trials.  Dr Lynsey Bilsland is the new Managing Di...

To start the fourth series of the podcast we are turning our focus towards the much neglected area of mental health related research.  Just over a year ago Becca Hunsdon from the University of Reading began recruiting participants for her PhD project ‘Moving Forward’, exploring a new online group programme she’d developed to offer psychological support and improve quality of life for people with P...

Landmark is a ground-breaking research programme aimed at accelerating the search for new treatments by applying cutting edge techniques to gain a new level of insight at cellular level into the changes Parkinson's causes in the brain. Principal investigator Professor Michael Johnson from Imperial College London explains the need across the global research community for the new high quality datase...

Parkinson’s UK have published the results of an unprecedented study that’s provided a wealth of new detail into the condition in the UK today.   Eighteen million patient records were analysed uncovering the key issues facing the one hundred and sixty-six thousand people with the condition in this country and highlighting up to twenty-one thousand more with no treatment or support while they wait t...

The ground-breaking Predict-PD study has been gathering valuable information from thirteen thousand volunteers for 15 years, in an effort to find ways of identifying those people most at risk of developing Parkinson’s.  We catch up with progress so far and find out how the project is continually growing and swapping information with other researchers as science moves ever closer towards the establ...

We are delighted to be focusing this month's episode on a research project that is actively recruiting patient participants all across the UK. The investigation, based at University College London, is looking at whether a medicine currently used to treat nausea and vomiting caused by some cancer treatments, could also help people with Parkinson's and Lewy Body Dementia who experience hallucination...

In this episode we're turning our attention to a long overlooked area of Parkinson's research; oral health. Despite its importance, little is known about how oral health issues affect quality of life for people living with the condition. Jessie Tebbutt, NIHR Doctoral Clinical Fellow in Special Care Dentistry at the University of Sheffield, has been exploring the existing evidence on the oral healt...

In this episode we delve deep into science to hear about Professor Ian Ganley's ground-breaking research in the field of mitophagy, one of the body's self cleaning mechanisms that could play a key role in the development of Parkinson's. Not only is Professor Ganley making strides forward in what we know about the process, but his team have invented a prize winning new tool that has revolutionised...

This month the NoSPRIG Parkinson’s research podcast is taking an unusual step away from science and into the arts. We’re joined by Dr Bethany Whiteside, Senior Lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, to find out about her research into specially adapted dance for people with Parkinson’s.  She has identified a huge range of benefits for people taking part in the classes, which have movemen...

Pain is the subject of this month's episode, something that can affect people with Parkinson's in a huge variety of different ways. Dr Jenni Naisby, Assistant Professor of Physiotherapy at Northumbria University has been collecting a vast array or personal experiences of pain in her research looking into how the condition can affect pain processing at multiple levels of the central nervous system,...

In this special episode to mark World Parkinson's Day, we focus on something every person with Parkinson's can do to help in the quest to find new treatments and ultimately a cure. One of the biggest obstacles facing research is finding enough volunteers representing as diverse a population as possible, to help with studies and trials.  We also hear first hand, the emotional story of how a patient...

This month we focus on bone health with the help of our guest Dr Alistair Mackett, a Consultant Geriatrician specialising in Parkinson's at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge and Regional Clinical Lead for the East of England Parkinson's Excellence Network.  People with Parkinson's are far more likely to to have poor bone health and a far higher risk of fracture than the rest of the population. We...

Guests: Dr Bhanu Ramaswamy OBE, Independent Physiotherapy Consultant and Honorary Visiting Fellow, Sheffield Hallam University. Dr Alison Williams, Person with Parkinson's, Academic, Artist and Parkinson's Public Speaker   This month's podcast sees us shift from the usual focus on quantitative evidence-based research to qualitative research surrounding the subject of self-management in Parkinson's...

The benefits of exercise for people with Parkinson's are well known, but if you're struggling to stick to your New Year's resolution to be more active, this episode should give you all the motivation you need! Ledia Alushi Agley's doctoral research at the University of Cambridge, involving more than four hundred participants, saw her co-design a physical health programme for those newly diagnosed...

In this special extended podcast we have three guests in our virtual studio to examine whether we're getting the messaging about Parkinson's right, be it reporting research findings or at a patient appointment.  With the help of Prof David Dexter, Director of Research at Parkinson's UK and Professor of Neuropharmacology at Imperial College London, Dr Angus Macleod, Honorary Consultant Neurologist...

Research already carried out by Rachael and her team discovered that people with Parkinson's are far more likely to experience delirium in hospital leading to far poorer outcomes on release. Now they are examining why this is and how this might be avoided. In this episode Julie and Helga find out more about this complex issue and the challenges of researching it.  

This tremendous research collaboration at the London Metropolitan University aims to tackle one of the most distressing but neglected symptoms of Parkinson's - Facial Masking. Dr Cassie Terry, Reader in Protein Pathology and Dr Fiona French, Associate Professor of Computing and Digital Media, are developing a virtual reality application to rehabilitate facial muscles and help bring back the abilit...

Welcome to part 2 of our special two part podcast to mark World Mental Health Day 2023 on 10th October. Julie Jones and Neil Morrison from NoSPRIG will be joined by Senior Clinical Neuropsychologist Dr Jennifer Foley and mental health specialist Parkinson’s Nurse Emma Edwards   In episode 2, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at depression, another common mental health issue facing people with Parki...

Welcome to part 1 of our special two part podcast to mark World Mental Health Day 2023 on 10th October. Julie Jones and Neil Morrison from NoSPRIG will be joined by Senior Clinical Neuropsychologist Dr Jennifer Foley and mental health specialist Parkinson’s Nurse Emma Edwards   In episode 1, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at anxiety, one of the most common mental health issues facing people with...

This episode focuses on the remarkable research being done by Dr Tom Gilbertson in Dundee, that suggests people with Parkinson’s may be able to reprogram new pathways in their brain to overcome the common symptom of apathy. He also describes his future work and the belief that non-invasive, reversible ultrasound therapies may one day be capable of modifying the function of neurons to provide sympt...

Dr Angus Macleod is a Honorary Consultant Neurologist with NHS Grampian specialising in movement disorders inc. Parkinson’s and also a Senior Lecturer at the School of Medicine at the University of Aberdeen. This podcast focuses on his own research and also his views on the most promising areas of research currently underway.  The North of Scotland Parkinsons research interest groups:  https://www...