PD-Life will aim to establish first all-island dedicated, virtual centre of excellence for Parkinson\u2019s research<\/p>\n
A new all-island research group specialising in Parkinson\u2019s disease will transform the quality of life of people with the condition.<\/p>\n
PD-Life consists of more than 30 senior researchers, clinicians and advocacy groups from across Ireland and Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
Key to the hub\u2019s work will be a four-year programme to establish the first dedicated, virtual centre of excellence for Parkinson\u2019s research on the island.<\/p>\n
Led by Prof Suzanne Timmons of University College Cork (UCC) alongside Dr Mihalis Doumas of Queens University Belfast (QUB), PD-Life will focus on three interconnected pillars that are priorities for the Parkinson\u2019s community: tackling stigma, supporting mental health, and promoting exercise and physical activity through initiatives like dance. These themes will be explored through the critical lenses of gender, culture, and technology.<\/p>\n
The project has already garnered support from patient advocacy groups, with Parkinson\u2019s Ireland and Parkinson\u2019s UK Northern Ireland represented on the project\u2019s steering committee.<\/p>\n
Director at Parkinson\u2019s Ireland Dr Brenda O\u2019Connell \u2013 who is also living with the disease \u2013 said: \u2018Projects like PD-Life give me an immense sense of hope for the future, as living with Parkinson\u2019s can be a lonely experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project will further raise awareness in the public domain, which is crucial. We know there is no cure for Parkinson\u2019s disease, but if a solution could be found to ease the challenging symptoms, both motor and non-motor, it would have an enormous impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe non-motor symptoms are a hidden element of Parkinson\u2019s disease, and I would like more conversations about this to help the public gain a better understanding of the mental challenges many of us deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hub will build research capacity by supporting scientists, including a cohort of nine funded PhD students and several postdoctoral researchers. These junior researchers will be mentored by interdisciplinary supervisory teams from across the partner institutions, fostering cross-border collaboration and developing future leaders in Parkinson\u2019s research.<\/p>\n
\u201cParkinson\u2019s is a complex, multi-faceted disease, and it demands an equally multi-faceted research approach,\u201d said Prof Timmons, who is also head of the UCC Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil now, universities across Ireland have largely worked independently. PD-Life creates a framework for us to combine our expertise, share knowledge, and avoid unnecessary duplication. Crucially, people living with Parkinson\u2019s and their advocates are core partners in this hub, ensuring our research is relevant and makes a real difference to their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The PD-Life hub will run until April 2030. \u201cBy uniting the complementary strengths of the PD research clusters at UCC and QUB, and bringing in expertise from universities across the island, we can generate robust, all-island data,\u201d said Dr Doumas, who is a senior lecturer in psychology.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis evidence will be vital for informing healthcare policy, improving clinical practice, and ultimately ensuring that people with Parkinson\u2019s receive the best possible care and support, no matter where they live.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PD-Life will aim to establish first all-island dedicated, virtual centre of excellence for Parkinson\u2019s research A new all-island…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[169209,103,61,60,3262,196041,196042],"class_list":["post-451612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-gerentology","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-parkinsons-disease","tag-pd-life","tag-ucc-centre-for-gerontology-and-rehabilitation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}