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• neuroscience and mental health

• Medicine

• Neurology
• Neurophysiology
• Neuropsychiatry

Parkinson?s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, affecting ~2% of people aged over 65. Since PD is an age-related disorder, its incidence is steadily escalating, due to increases in life-expectancy. Current treatments are successful in alleviating symptoms in the short-term but their long-term use is associated with significant side-effects, and they have no effect to slow down the disease progression. The immediate future holds a significant challenge for researchers to develop novel treatments for PD, which will be efficacious and safe for long-term use by patients. Such developments will be driven by advances in the understanding of neuropathology of PD as well as the development, maintenance and health of dopamine neurons, the cells that degenerate in PD. My research programme aims to address these challenges through a coherently-linked program focused on the following key thematic areas, using in vitro and in vivo models:

- Optimisation of neuroprotective therapies by the use of viral vectors to achieve long-term and targeted delivery of dopaminergic neurotrophic factors to the nigrostriatal system.
- Elucidation of the molecular mechanisms mediating the protective effects of neurotrophic factors, to facilitate the development of drugs for PD which target these signalling pathways.
- Discovery of biomarkers for PD, to enable earlier diagnosis and personalised medicine.
- Investigation of the mechanisms of neuronal cell degeneration in PD, using new animal models which closely mimic the neuropathology which occurs in this disease.
- Characterisation of the mechanisms of dopaminergic neuronal development and survival, to enhance the development of stem cell-based treatments for PD.
- Investigation of the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the neurodegenerative pathomechanics of PD.

There is increasing recognition of the importance of non-motor symptoms of PD. Non-motor symptoms such as gastrointestinal dysfunction, sleep disorders, depression and cognitive disturbances are highly associated with the disorder and are considered to negatively affect quality of life (QOL) in most patients. PD is associated with significant morbidity and disability as well increased risk of depression and psychological distress; mortality rates are greater among patients with PD compared to healthy controls.

The proposed project is a cross-sectional study on PD patients, designed to obtain data about sleep, dietary habits, gastrointestinal function, mood and health-related quality-of-life. Blood samples will be collected from the participants to measure indices of gastrointestinal function. Validated questionnaires and objective biometric measurements will be used to assess sleep, mood and nutrition status. The specific objectives of the project are:
? To characterise patterns, duration and quality of sleep in PD patients, using both objective and subjective sleep-assessment methods
? To investigate nutritional status, dietary intake and dietary quality in PD patients
? To measure gut permeability as an index of gastrointestinal function in PD patients
? To assess the existence and severity of depressive symptoms / mood /emotional health in PD patients
? To investigate the relationships between (i) sleep patterns/duration/quality, (ii) dietary habits, (iii) gastrointestinal function and (iv) emotional health, with health-related quality-of-life in PD patients