Congratulations to Prof Sarah Tabrizi (UK DRI at UCL) who has been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to people with Huntington’s disease.
Prof Tabrizi is a Group Leader at the UK DRI at UCL, and Director of the UCL HD Centre and Joint-Head of the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. Prof Tabrizi's multidisciplinary research provided transformational insights into the biology of Huntington’s disease, a neurodegenerative disease, and has helped to create an entirely new field of novel therapeutic agents.
Her work balances the investigation of fundamental mechanistic science combined with human clinical research in patients, and she has redefined the lifelong trajectory of this fatal disease, making it one that is now therapeutically tractable.
Most recently, Prof Tabrizi’s leadership in the early phase clinical trial of the gene therapy AMT-130 has yielded a major step forward for the field, a reported 75% slowing of disease progression over 36 months, marking a monumental step toward a potential treatment for this fatal condition.
I am deeply honoured and humbled to be recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours. This award reflects many years of collaborative effort with an extraordinary community of researchers, clinicians and, above all, individuals and families affected by Huntington’s disease.
Group Leader
Prof Tabrizi said:
“I am deeply honoured and humbled to be recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours. This award reflects many years of collaborative effort with an extraordinary community of researchers, clinicians and, above all, individuals and families affected by Huntington’s disease. I am profoundly grateful to the patients and families who have worked alongside me and contributed to research over many years - their commitment makes progress possible, and their resilience and tremendous courage inspires everything I do.
“I would also like to acknowledge my exceptional colleagues at the Huntington’s Disease Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UCLH National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, and UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI), all of whom have been essential to driving forward my research. I’m equally grateful to the CHDI Foundation, the Medical Research Council, the UK DRI, the Wellcome Trust and all of the funders who have been so supportive of my research.
“I have worked on Huntington’s disease for almost 30 years, and progress has required persistence, collaboration and a belief that meaningful change is possible. I feel incredibly fortunate to have worked with such talented and committed individuals, and to contribute to a global effort focused on improving outcomes for patients. This honour strengthens my resolve to continue striving towards effective therapies for Huntington’s disease.”
Source: UCL
