It's about time: How early changes at the synapse may impact Parkinson's disease Dr Dayne Beccano-Kelly, Cardiff University

This event has ended.

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide, and is the fastest growing non-infectious global pandemic.  There is currently no cure for PD, and therefore there is a desperate need for new and effective treatments to tackle this disease.

PD is often thought of as a disease of old age but evidence suggests that the death of neurons seen in the disorder starts a long time before this.  So, to stand a chance at generating effective medicines we need to understand not only what is going wrong, but when!

Dr Beccano-Kelly’s research involves studying how the cells of the brain change during PD starting at the earliest stages and mapping them over time. He focuses on the key job of the brain - the communication of brain cells using chemical-electrical signals. This lets us do all the special things like walk, talk and think but may also be key to the start of the disease!