The North of Scotland Parkinson’s Research Podcast Series

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 Director at the helm of the Virtual B...

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 Park...

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 datasets his team will produce. 

The proj...

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 establishing the causes of the world’s f...

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 hallucinations. 

Read Maria and Desmond's expe...

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 health experiences of those with Parkins...

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 the pace of progress in this immens...

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 movements specially tailored for those wi...

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, and then find ways of classifying ...

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 participation role has led to a ne...

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 find out why, how this can be prev...

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.  We find out what this can mean f...

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 with Parkinson's. She shares with u...

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 at NHS Grampian and Clinical Senior...

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 ability of a patient's face to reflect th...

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 Parkinson’s. 

Dr Jennifer Foley is a...

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 is...