A taster of lab life: Work experience at UK DRI at Imperial
Guest blog from Julie Bouvier, work experience student in the lab of Dr Sam Barnes at UK DRI at Imperial.
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from the institute
Tackling dementia: Key milestones for progress
A new paper published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions outlines six key issues in dementia research, along with practical recommendations for how the field should tackle them in order to increase success in therapeutic translation.
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UK DRI Synapse Symposium: How do we keep the brain talking?
On 27 June, an international forum of scientists came together at King’s College London to examine the core biology of the synapse and explore possible reasons for its demise in pathological conditions. We take a look at what was discussed, and some key messages taken from the day.
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Gene therapy: £2m boost for a core facility at the UK DRI
Adeno-associated virus (AAV) is one of the most actively investigated gene therapy vehicles. Now, under the leadership of Prof Chris Shaw, Associate Director of UK DRI at Kings, the institute will be at the forefront of realising this potential.
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Major donation to accelerate neurodegenerative disease research at Imperial
The £1.63M gift from Lily Safra and the Edmond J. Safra Foundation will support fellowships for rising stars in Parkinson's Disease research.
UK DRI Director, Bart De Strooper, leads call for brain science priority in Horizon Europe funding
The UK DRI has joined major European institutions in launching a petition that urges the EU to give greater emphasis to neuroscience research in its upcoming strategic and funding plan for Horizon Europe.
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UK DRI Care Research: Take part today through online brain games!
In this 3-minute interview with Dr Adam Hampshire, from our new Care Research & Technology centre at Imperial, we find out what he hopes to achieve and how members of the public can contribute to his research.
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UK DRI at the MRC Science Fete: Virtual Reality Lab Tours, DNA, and Brain Hoopla
On Saturday 15 June, UK DRI joined MRC units from across UCL to transform South Cloisters into a Summer Science Fete, as part of the MRC Festival. A family fun day, over 300 attendees met scientists and learnt about current research, from experimenting with ‘Quack Quack’ disease to taking a ‘cell-fie’.
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Two key genetic risk factors linked with synapse degeneration in Alzheimer’s disease
A new study led by Prof Tara Spires-Jones, UK DRI at Edinburgh, has shed light on synaptic degeneration in Alzheimer’s disease with observations that the highly implicated clusterin protein accumulates in these vulnerable structures.
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Lewy Body Dementia Center Without Walls: UK DRI Fellow awarded $600K as part of a new international collaboration
UK DRI Fellow at UCL, Dr Tim Bartels, will lead one of 10 labs awarded $14M funding in total from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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Model behaviour: Utilising haploid embryonic stem cells for rapid and reliable disease model generation
A team of scientists, led by Dr Gabriel Balmus, Fellow at the UK DRI at Cambridge, have successfully developed a seven-week protocol for the derivation of mouse haploid embryonic stem cells, producing a fast, reproducible and versatile means for creating disease models. Moreover, this protocol can be used for the derivation of human haploid embryonic stem cells.
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Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5: Pilot projects awarded for fresh thinking
The UK DRI is made up of people who choose to take the road less travelled, and we run schemes to encourage and reward this. This spring, we launched our ‘Pilot Studies Programme’ and today five successful UK DRI applications have been selected.
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Dementia research sheds light on safer treatments for leukaemia
An international team of researchers at VIB-KU Leuven, Belgium, the UK Dementia Institute and the Children’s Cancer Institute, Australia, have found a safer treatment for a specific type of leukemia, thanks to lessons learned from research into Alzheimer’s disease.
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UCL research into genetic therapies for dementia boosted by £5m donation from The Sigrid Rausing Trust
A new programme to test promising genetic therapies for neurodegenerative and dementia-causing diseases such as Alzheimer’s will be launched at UCL thanks to a £5m donation by the Sigrid Rausing Trust, one of the UK’s largest philanthropic foundations.
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UK DRI Early Career Workshop on neuroinflammation – An in-depth look at our first themed event
In the first focussed ‘Theme’ event for the UK DRI, early-career researchers from across the network joined together last month (10-11 April 19) to share knowledge and insight on the topic of neuroinflammation in a 2-day workshop
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Meeting report: 'Development of the dopaminergic system – from stem cells to circuits'
Co-organised by Dr Emmanouil Metzakopian, UK DRI at Cambridge, the 2019 CamBioScience conference in Crete brought together researchers to discuss recent advances and future directions in fundamental and applied developmental neuroscience centred on the midbrain dopaminergic system.
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UK DRI Centre Director partners with NHS Foundation Trust for new research in Cambridge
In Dementia Action Week, a unique research group, has been launched to test promising new drugs for dementia, including one of the world’s first studies with an antidepressant that could stop the disease progressing.
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Launching: £2m collaboration with Eisai to accelerate dementia research
This first-of-its-kind industry collaboration for the UK DRI aims to deliver innovative research that translates into improvements in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of all types of dementia.
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Recording: From Academia to Industry - A Lunchtime Conversation
Are you exploring a potential career move to industry? Watch two scientists talk about their career pathway, their transition from academia to industry, pros and cons, career tips…
UK DRI at Edinburgh Annual Symposium 2019
The 2nd Annual Symposium from the UK DRI at Edinburgh took place at the Royal Society on 30th April. PhD student Sophie Quick takes us through her highlights from the day.
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