€7m project aims to deepen understanding of Parkinson's

A €7 million project at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is hoping to deepen our understanding of Parkinson’s so that more effective treatments can be developed.

The PD-MitoQUANT project will assess how brain cells are damaged during Parkinson’s in the aim to developed better treatments in the future.

Specifically, researchers will focus on the parts of the cell known as mitochondria, which malfunction in people with Parkinson’s. Mitochondria are known to contribute to cell death and neurodegeneration, and it’s thought they play a role in Parksinon’s. However, no effective treatments have been developed based on this research.

The project is being co-ordinated by RCSI and has been funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI); €4.5m is coming from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme and €2.46m is coming from European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) members and Parkinson’s UK.

The project was chosen as there is an urgent need for new, more effective treatments targeting Parkinson’s. The most common drug to treat Parkinson’s in Ireland is more than 50 years old.

Project coordinator, professor Jochen Prehn said: “This project will join forces with top scientists in academia and industry to bring a fresh look on how we identify and test novel drugs for the treatment of this devastating movement disorder.”

Key investigator on the project, Dr Niamh Connolly said: “While there are therapies currently available for Parkinson’s, they do not improve all symptoms, nor do they slow or prevent disease progression over time.

“We hope that a systematic understanding of Parkinson’s developed from this project will lead to improved tools for the early stages of drug development, so pharmaceutical companies can develop new treatments in the future.”

Professor Raymond Stallings, director of Research and Innovation at RCSI said: “Research that informs improved treatments for patients is at the core of RCSI’s mission to lead impactful research that addresses Irish and international health challenges such as Parkinson’s. RCSI is proud to be the first Irish Institution to lead an Innovative Medicines Initiative project which is a testament to our strong expertise in high quality neurological research that drives advances to improve the lives of people with life-changing conditions.”

The project has been announced to coincide with National Brain Awareness Week which takes place from 11-17 March. loveyourbrain.ie #LoveYourBrain2019