On 19th June, the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit welcomed lay members of the Oxford and Banbury groups of the charity Parkinson’s UK to learn more about the Unit’s research on the causes and treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
The visit began with Unit Director Peter Brown highlighting the work of the Medical Research Council, the Unit’s scientific mission, and the joint commitment to public engagement with research. This was followed by short presentations from Unit research fellow Damian Herz on Deep Brain Stimulation as a therapy for Parkinson’s, and from Unit Deputy Director Peter Magill on the use of animals in Parkinson’s research. Each of the talks was integrated with a lively discussion session in which the visitors’ questions came thick and fast.
After lunch on site with a group of the Unit’s early-career scientists, visitors were offered a tour of the Unit’s laboratories, led by Andrew Sharott, Paul Dodson and members of the Magill and Sharott Groups, and given the opportunity to chat with scientists and see ongoing research for themselves. Those not attending the lab tours were treated to short presentations from Unit student Benoit Duchet on the use of computer models to optimise Deep Brain Simulation in Parkinson’s, and from Unit Programme Leader David Dupret on the role of dopamine in memory, while highlighting the importance of the mutual exchange of ideas and discoveries made in the clinical and “basic” research fields. The visit concluded with refreshments, a final Q & A session, and a chance for the visitors to give their feedback to the Unit team.
Peter Magill commented “The Unit counts people affected by Parkinson’s amongst its key stakeholders, and our open day was a fantastic chance for us to discuss our research with them. Our visitors’ questions and comments were not only insightful, but also helped us to reflect on what’s most important.”
The Unit’s open day was one of many public engagement events led by the Medical Research Council and held across the country from 17th-25th June 2017 as part of the MRC Festival of Medical Research.
We are pleased to welcome Dr Kai Loewenbrück to the Unit as a visiting scientist. Kai is a neurologist at the University Hospital of Dresden, Germany. He specialises in the treatment of people with advanced Parkinson’s. During Kai's time in the Unit, he aims is to further investigate the potential of ‘closed-loop’ Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) as a therapy for Parkinson’s. He is specifically interested in how the closed-loop approach may diminish side effects, such as impaired speech intelligibility and altered behavioural control. In addition, Kai aims to understand how closed-loop DBS could be crafted to better address specific problems of motor performance in people with advanced Parkinson’s, such as freezing. He plans to conduct his studies as a collaboration between Professor Peter Brown’s Group and his home university.
Our congratulations go to Unit D.Phil. student Gido van de Ven for successfully defending his doctoral thesis, entitled “Reactivation and Reinstatement of Hippocampal Assemblies”, in his viva voce examination on 8th June 2017.
Gido’s examiners were Dr Daniel Bendor (Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London) and Professor Tim Behrens (Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford). Gido was supervised by Dr David Dupret.
We are pleased to welcome Dr Magdalena Baaske to the Unit as a Rosetrees Trust Fellow in the Sharott and Brown Groups. Magdalena received her M.D. from the University of Hamburg, Germany, in 2012, where she worked with Dr Christian Moll to characterize electrophysiological changes in basal ganglia activity in a genetic mouse model of Parkinson’s disease. Magdalena then trained as a clinical research fellow in neurology at the Institute of Neurogenetics, Lübeck, which has a focus on movement disorders. During this time, Magdalena carried out intraoperative electrophysiological recordings from movement disorder patients undergoing the implantation of deep brain stimulation electrodes. During her time in the Unit, Magdalena will analyse intraoperative recordings of subthalamic nucleus neurons made in collaboration with the Functional Neurosurgery team at the University of Hamburg.
We are pleased to welcome Laolu Ayeko for his Final Honours School research project in the Magill Group. Laolu is currently studying for his B.A. in Medical Sciences at the University of Oxford. During Laolu’s time in the Unit, he will work closely with Dr Natalie Doig on a project investigating the structural basis of communication between the subthalamic nucleus, striatum, and external globus pallidus.
We are pleased to welcome Michael Orrell for his Final Honours School research project in the Magill Group. Michael is currently studying for his B.A. in Medical Sciences at the University of Oxford. During Michael’s time in the Unit, he will work closely with Dr Paul Dodson on a project investigating the differential vulnerability of dopamine neurons in rodent models of Parkinson’s disease.
We are pleased to welcome Johanna Nieweler for her research project in the Magill Group. Johanna is currently studying for her M.Sc. in Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. During Johanna’s time in the Unit, she will work closely with Dr Emilie Syed and Dr Jennifer Kaufling on a project investigating the impact of ‘optogenetic’ stimuli on the firing of midbrain dopamine neurons as well as on dopamine release in striatum.
We are pleased to welcome Istvan Lukacs to the Unit. Istvan is a M.Sc. in Neuroscience student at the University of Oxford, and has joined the Dupret Group for his second lab rotation, under Mohamady El-Gaby’s supervision. During his time in the Unit, Istvan will be studying the coordination of neuronal activity across the CA1 and the CA3 regions of the dorsal hippocampus during a conditional discrimination task. This is conducted while simultaneously recording extracellular field potentials and multiple single-unit spiking, combined with optogenetic manipulations, during learning and sleep.
We are pleased to welcome Roman Rothaermel to the Unit for his research project in the Dupret Group. Roman is currently completing his M.Sc. in Neuroscience as part of his Wellcome Trust Doctoral Programme at the University of Oxford. Durign his time in the Unit, Roman will work under the supervision of Gido van de Ven on developing an unsupervised clustering framework to divide hippocampal interneurons into different classes based on their firing properties.
Congratulations to Unit D.Phil. student Dr Anders Christian Meidahl who has received a prestigious 'King Christian X of Denmark Foundation' award in support of his research on Deep Brain Stimulation and Parkinson's disease.
The Foundation is administered on behalf of the Danish Royal Family in memory of King Christian X of Denmark, and makes awards annually on the late King's birthday. The Foundation supports medical research and cultural projects.