Latest News

My Primary School Visit for Science Week

21 April 2022

On 2 March 2022, Dr Katherine Brimblecombe visited two primary school classes (ages 8-11) as part of their “Science week”. Read her interview to learn more about public engagement with school children in the local Oxford community.

L-R Lorraine Dyson (OPDC), Dr Brent Ryan (OPDC), Mark Jennings (Parkinson’s UK Oxford), Martin Cowell (Parkinson’s UK Oxford), Gary Shaughnessy (Parkinson’s UK), Caroline Rassell (Parkinson’s UK), Paul Mayhew-Archer (Parkinson’s UK Oxford), Sally Bromley (Parkinson’s UK), Jonathan Bromley (Parkinson’s UK Oxford), Dr Charmaine Lang (OPDC), Dr Katherine Brimblecombe (OPDC), Kevin McFarthing (Parkinson’s UK Oxford), Maria Claudia Caiazza (OPDC), Nigel Hamilton (Parkinson’s UK Oxford).
Missing from photo: Professor Richard Wade-Martins (OPDC), Professor Michele Hu (OPDC) , Professor Stephanie Cragg (OPDC), David Dexter (Parkinson’s UK), Simon Rinaldi (University of Oxford), Pen Keyte (Parkinson’s UK Oxford), Jessica Welch (OPDC), Jamil Razzaque (OPDC), Professor Gabriele de Luca (University of Oxford), Dr Gina Hadley (University of Oxford).

OPDC researchers welcome Parkinson’s UK and the Oxford Branch committee

13 April 2022

Researchers from the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre (OPDC) recently hosted Caroline Rassell, Parkinson’s UK Chief Executive; David Dexter, Associate Research Director; Trustee Board members, Gary Shaughnessy (Chair) and Sally Bromley; together with members of the Parkinson’s UK Oxford Branch committee, for a visit to showcase the research being carried out in Oxford.

Parkinson's protein test could lead to earlier and better diagnosis

13 December 2021

OPDC's Associate Professor Laura Parkkinen, and her team has conducted a study published in Brain, funded by the charity Parkinson’s UK and Weston Brain Institute.

Mapping uncharted networks in the progression of Parkinson’s

26 October 2021

A major new $9 million project funded by the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative will map the original circuits vulnerable to Parkinson’s on an unprecedented scale. The project is a collaboration between core investigators Stephanie Cragg, Richard Wade-Martins, and Peter Magill at Oxford, Mark Howe at Boston University and Dinos Meletis at the Karolinska Institutet, as well as collaborators Yulong Li at Peking University and Michael Lin at Stanford University.

OPDC participate in the annual Walk for Parkinson’s in Oxford

28 September 2021

Bridging the gap between basic research and people with Parkinson's

26 July 2021

New laboratory facilities for OPDC Researchers

19 July 2021

Researchers from the OPDC and the Wade-Martins Group recently moved to brand new laboratory facilities at the Kavli Institute for NanoScience Discovery.

The only way is UPP!

19 May 2021

The OPDC is delighted to announce that Parkinson’s UK have agreed to fund a further four and a half years of ODPC Discovery Cohort follow-up from August 2021.

8 OPDC researchers including Director Richard Wade-Martins, Dayne Beccano-Kelly and Natalie Connor Robson hold hard hats

New laboratory space for OPDC Researchers

1 March 2021

A major building in the centre of Oxford has been constructed to create a new research centre bringing together cellular neuroscience and physical sciences.

Dopamine neurons need a 'REST' in Parkinson’s Disease

16 February 2021

A study led by University of Oxford researchers, Dr Brent Ryan and Dr Nora Bengoa-Vergniory has shown that the key protein RE1 Silencing Transcription Factor (REST) regulates the health of those neurons critically affected in Parkinson’s Disease.

Tau-proximity ligation assay reveals extensive previously undetected pathology prior to neurofibrillary tangles in preclinical Alzheimer's disease

4 February 2021

A study led by the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre’s (OPDC) Dr Nora Bengoa-Vergniory has shown that a novel assay termed the tau-proximity ligation assay is able to recognise Alzheimer’s disease before current detection methods.

Dayne photographed in the lab next to a microscope

Dayne Beccano-Kelly awarded UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship

16 October 2020

New Future Leaders Fellow Dr Beccano-Kelly will lead research into synaptic health over time in neurodegeneration. Watch our video interview with Dayne to find out more about his career to date, successful application and future plans.

Striatal immunofluorescence signals for astrocyte marker S100β and neuronal marker NeuN

Sites of early dysfunction in Parkinson's identified

2 October 2020

A new collaborative study from the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre led by Prof Stephanie Cragg and Dr Bradley Roberts has revealed that GABA transporters on astrocytes, the brain's lesser known yet critically important cells, support dopamine release and are sites of early dysfunction in parkinsonism.