Sheffield clinician joins world bid to find a cure for Parkinson´s Disease
Researchers from the University of Sheffield are taking part in the world´s biggest ever in-depth study tracking people with Parkinson´s in order to unlock further secrets about the neurological disorder to boost the chances of finding a cure.
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the key centres in the UK taking part in the £1.6 million research funded by Parkinson´s UK.
Dr Oliver Bandmann, Consultant Neurologist and Reader in Neurology at the University of Sheffield, is leading the research locally. Based at the Sheffield Institute of Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), his research team focuses on the development of new model systems for Parkinson´s and their use for drug screens in an academic setting.
Dr Bandmann said: "Finding a cure for Parkinson´s is what every researcher in the field dreams about. Tracking Parkinson´s is a major new research project and we are very excited to be involved right at the beginning.
"This study really offers hope for the future for people with Parkinson´s and we need eligible people in Sheffield to volunteer to help us make our vision of a cure a reality."
Leading research and support charity Parkinson´s UK have chosen the opening day of Parkinson´s Awareness Week (16 April-22 April 2012) to put out an urgent call for 3,000 volunteers to take part in the ground-breaking Tracking Parkinson´s clinical study.
The charity is appealing for both people recently diagnosed with Parkinson´s (within the last three years) and those who were under the age of 50 at diagnosis – along with their siblings - to take part in the study.
The primary aim of the research is to identify elusive biomarkers for Parkinson´s, such as signpost indicators in the blood, that could help develop simple tests, like blood tests, for use as diagnostic tools. Despite the best efforts of researchers worldwide no biomarkers have yet been identified for Parkinson´s.
Early diagnosis is crucial if doctors are to be able to prescribe the right drugs for people with Parkinson´s to control – and, one day hopefully, even cure - their condition. The responses of people with Parkinson´s to treatments for distressing symptoms like tremors, movement problems, anxiety, memory lapses and digestion problems will be closely monitored for up to five years.
Dr Kieran Breen, Director of Research and Innovation at Parkinson´s UK said: "Studies like Tracking Parkinson´s could make a huge difference and help us to ultimately find a cure. Identifying biomarkers is key and would revolutionise the diagnosis and management of Parkinson´s.
"Finding a cure for Parkinson´s is like building a gigantic jigsaw, but we still have a number of the pieces missing. This vital new study will help us fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge. "We hope Tracking Parkinson´s will also help us to identify people who have a greater risk of developing Parkinson´s and we can monitor them more accurately."
The Parkinson´s UK research project will be led nationally by Dr Donald Grosset at the University of Glasgow and will link eventually to around fifty centres around the UK.
Dr Donald Grosset said: "The cure for Parkinson´s is a global challenge and all the samples gathered from our thousands of volunteers will be available for analysis by researchers the world over. This, in itself, will speed up our ultimate goal – to develop a cure for Parkinson´s. I am very excited to be leading this cutting edge research collaborating with top researchers from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland."
Notes for Editors: To find out more about how to take part in Tracking Parkinson´s call the free phone helpline 0808 800 0303, or visit Tracking Parkinson's for full details and links to other Parkinson´s UK funded research.
There are currently around 50 research centres taking part in Tracking Parkinson´s across the UK including Glasgow, Sheffield, Exeter, Newport, Llandudno, Milton Keynes, Barnstable, Kings Lynn, Huntingdon, Preston, Bournemouth, Aberdeen, Newcastle, Wirral, London, Norwich, Plymouth, Bury St Edmonds, Blackburn, and Carlisle, with more signing up in the coming months
About Parkinson´s UK
127,000 people in the UK have Parkinson´s. It is a progressive neurological condition for which there is currently no cure. As the leading Parkinson´s research and support charity they are currently funding around 90 groundbreaking research projects worth £15 million across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their ambitious five-year research strategy is pushing a search for a cure to a new level.
Their plan to cure Parkinson's - Parkinson's UK research strategy 2010-2014 Our Brain Donor Appeal launched in April 2009 won the PR Week Award 2009 for best not for profit campaign in the Corporate and Public category, and a Third Sector Excellence award. The Appeal doubled the number of people on the brain donor register and attracted support from celebrities including Jeremy Paxman, Graham Norton, Jane Asher. Donated tissue is requested by researchers all over the world and continues to contribute to world efforts to find a cure.
About the University of Sheffield
With nearly 25,000 students from 125 countries, the University of Sheffield is one of the UK´s leading and largest universities. A member of the Russell Group, it has a reputation for world-class teaching and research excellence across a wide range of disciplines.
The University of Sheffield has been named University of the Year in the Times Higher Education Awards for its exceptional performance in research, teaching, access and business performance. In addition, the University has won four Queen´s Anniversary Prizes (1998, 2000, 2002, 2007). These prestigious awards recognise outstanding contributions by universities and colleges to the United Kingdom´s intellectual, economic, cultural and social life. Sheffield also boasts five Nobel Prize winners among former staff and students and many of its alumni have gone on to hold positions of great responsibility and influence around the world.
The University´s research partners and clients include Boeing, Rolls Royce, Unilever, Boots, AstraZeneca, GSK, ICI, Slazenger, and many more household names, as well as UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations.
The University has well-established partnerships with a number of universities and major corporations, both in the UK and abroad. Its partnership with Leeds and York Universities in the White Rose Consortium has a combined research power greater than that of either Oxford or Cambridge.