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May 2023 – Didcot Cafe Scientifique – Chris Elliott, “Flying to cure Parkinson’s”
16th May 2023 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
16th May 2023
Talk in the Cafe Bar at Cornerstone Arts Centre, Didcot
7pm for a 7.30pm start
Chris Elliott (Department of Biology, University of York) will be talking about the developments, work, and new treatments for Parkinsons
“Flying to cure Parkinson’s”
Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, and affects ~2% of the population over 60. It is caused by the loss of dopamine neurons in a part of the brain called the substantial nigra. Although humans and flies look very different on the outside, they have the same basic workings of the dopamine neurons. The small size and rapid breeding facilitate experiments, eg feeding novel drugs, that would not be possible in the human population. I will focus on a gene called LRRK2, which is a common cause of Parkinson’s, particularly among people of N African descent. We have developed techniques to show that this causes degeneration in flies, in a way similar to the human. We have tested a number of compounds, and have 2 that have gone on to clinical trials. These offer the possibility of slowing the brain degeneration in a way not possible with current drugs.
Chris Elliott studied Zoology at Oxford, before moving to research positions with the Max-Planck Institute in Germany, and Sussex. In 1985 he started as a lecturer in York, where he remained until retirement in 2022. His work focuses on the way that insect brains work, particularly developing techniques to measure their physiology. Most recently, he has designed apparatus to measure the reaching movement used in drinking, to show how this is reduced in Parkinson’s ‘mimics’. He also developed apparatus to study their vision and showed that novel drugs arrested the degeneration of the optic lobes. Chris enjoys the outdoors, especially birdwatching.