Decoding Parkinson’s Disease: New Therapeutic Opportunities
This seminar will be held online. Please email opdc.administrator@dpag.ox.ac.uk for more details.
Dr Valina Dawson is Director of the Programs in Neuroregeneration and Stem Cells in the Institute for Cell Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is a Professor in the Departments of Neurology, Neuroscience and Physiology. Her laboratory has been on the forefront of discovery of neurotoxic signalling events in stroke and Parkinson’s Disease.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. There is currently no therapy that can slow or halt the progression of the disease. Individuals with PD have both motor and non-motor symptoms. While 10-15% of PD is due to genetic mutations the majority of PD is sporadic. It is thought that the neurodegenerative process of PD in both familial and sporadic PD is driven by pathological alpha-synuclein, a presynaptic neuronal protein that aggregates and accumulates in Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites in the nervous system. Using models of familial PD, we have uncovered critical pathologic cell signaling pathways and have tested inhibitors that could slow or prevent disease. We have discovered mechanisms of transmission of pathological alpha-synuclein in neuronal circuits and developed a new model of sporadic PD. We have also uncovered an important role for microglia and astrocytes in the pathogenesis of PD and identified a small molecule inhibitor that is disease modifying in animal models.
Date: 9 November 2020, 14:00
Venue: This seminar will be held online. Please email opdc.administrator@dpag.ox.ac.uk for more details.
Speaker: Dr Valina Dawson (John Hopkins University School of Medicine)
Organising department: Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (DPAG)
Organiser: Lorraine Dyson (University of Oxford)
Host: Professor Richard Wade-Martins (Professor of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Oxford)
Part of: OPDC Seminar Series (DPAG)
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editor: Lorraine Dyson