Parkinson’s Disease: Genetics, Mechanisms and Therapeutics (Q7)

Our understanding of the causes of Parkinson’s disease has undergone a revolution in the last twenty years, driven by advances in cellular neuroscience and molecular genetics. Identification of rare autosomal Mendelian genes causative for Parkinsonism and recent genome wide association studies have revealed novel mechanisms that underlie neuronal death. The themes emerging from these advances, especially protein aggregation, immune response and mitochondrial dysfunction, highlight the overlap with other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. This meeting will cover our current state of knowledge of the global genetic architecture of Parkinson’s, how this is informing cellular and molecular approaches to the etiology of the disease, and the implications of these discoveries in patient diagnosis and development of novel treatments for Parkinson’s disease. In combination with the parallel meeting on Alzheimer’s disease, it will explore the commonalities between these two devastating disorders and discuss how recent advances in each field can be used to accelerate research.