Every research project that Cure Parkinson’s funds must be recommended by our research committee – an independent board of leading Parkinson’s researchers, clinicians, people with Parkinson’s, patient advocates and experts in intellectual property and regulatory affairs, who meet four times a year to evaluate new research proposals. This ensures the research we fund is scientifically robust and evaluated in a fair and transparent fashion.
We are pleased to announce that Professor Ruth Dobson has stepped into the role of chair of our research committee from January 2025.
Professor Dobson takes over as chair from Professor Alasdair Coles, who skilfully chaired the committee for the maximum term of six years. We want to say a huge thank you to Alasdair for his many years of dedicated service and commitment to the committee and continued support to bringing us closer to finding a cure for Parkinson’s. Over the last six years, Professor Coles led the charity’s research grant evaluation process, coordinated funding recommendations, and delivered Cure Parkinson’s research strategy with rigor and scrutiny ensuring resources were committed to research of the most promising therapies with disease-modifying potential.
Prof Coles was appointed as chair of the research committee in 2018 and throughout this time guided the charity through significant growth and funding milestones, including the phase III trial of ambroxol. Prof Coles also applied his knowledge and expertise of the research advancements in multiple sclerosis (MS) to the collaborative funding effort of the multi-arm, multi-stage clinical trial platform EJS ACT-PD whilst simultaneously navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prof Coles facilitated Cure Parkinson’s research funding of multiple other clinical trials involving people with Parkinson’s within the UK and US, alongside a range of preclinical projects across the world. Prof Coles shared and supported Cure Parkinson’s mission of finding a cure with urgency, and it was a huge privilege to have him expertly shape our research funding landscape.
“Being the chair of the Cure Parkinson’s research committee has been a stressfully exciting adventure! As the years have gone by, the number and quality of applications for funding has increased, as more and more scientists have bright ideas on how to control Parkinson’s disease. The members of the research committee are brilliant, independent, and quite happy to disagree! And the charity’s trustees rightly demand wise judgments on the excellence and cost of the research we recommend. These – combined with the urgency that Cure Parkinson’s goes about its business – means being the chair can be uncomfortable at times. But, I say, long may it last. If I had Parkinson’s disease, I would want the chair of the research committee to be just a little stressed…… and now
over to Professor Dobson!”
– Professor Alasdair Coles
To identify a new chair of the research committee, Cure Parkinson’s had an open call for expressions of interest. In accordance with guidance for the Association of Medical Research Charities, we were seeking for an individual within the academic community who was not involved in Parkinson’s research – this rule is to limit any potential conflicts of interest.
Professor Ruth Dobson is Centre Lead for the Centre of Preventive Neurology at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University London. Her research has a focus on the roles of ethnicity, deprivation, gender and wider social determinants of health in MS. She led the publication of UK guidelines on pregnancy in MS and leads the UK MS pregnancy register.
She is Chair of the ABN Advisory Group for MS and neuroinflammation, is a member of the NHS England Neurology clinical reference group, and the UK representative on ECTRIMS Council. She is currently Strategic Lead for Dementia at UCL Partners and additionally chairs the Research, Culture and Environment committee for the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. Cure Parkinson’s are extremely grateful to have an individual with Ruth’s knowledge and experience, and we are very pleased to welcome her to the role of chair.
“I’m really excited to be taking on the role of chair of the research committee at Cure Parkinson’s. As a neurologist, I have seen the impact that Parkinson’s has on people living with this condition, and I am very aware of the need to accelerate efforts to modify disease progression and delighted to have the opportunity to contribute to this. My background in multiple sclerosis means that I bring enthusiasm for this, having seen the impact that effective treatments can have on disease prognosis and disability. Much of my research explicitly considers equity across the research cycle, ensuring that all individuals are represented in research, and I am looking forward to working with Cure Parkinson’s to ensure that this is reflected in their research funding portfolio.”
– Professor Ruth Dobson
