In 2025, the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) partnered with Parkinson’s UK to launch a new £10m research centre dedicated to better understanding the causes of Parkinson’s and finding urgently needed treatments for the condition. Today they announced the first Group Leader appointments to the Parkinson’s Research Centre.
Professor Miratul Muqit was recruited to lead as Centre Director with a vision to build a centre fully integrated with people with Parkinson’s, which will become one of the world’s leading centres for discovery science and translation, and deliver new ideas for better diagnosing and treating Parkinson’s in the future.
Following an international call, three of the UK’s leading Parkinson’s researchers have been appointed to UK DRI Group Leader roles:
- Professor Laura Parkkinen (University of Oxford) – Next-generation human neuropathology to decode the mechanisms that drive Parkinson’s
- Professor Peter Magill (University of Oxford) - Investigating the molecular and cellular substrates of neural circuit dynamics in Parkinson’s
- Professor Henry Houlden (UCL) - Investigating the genetics of Parkinson’s and degenerative movement disorders across diverse global populations
Together their programmes unite gene discovery, fundamental circuit neuroscience and brain biomarkers to accelerate earlier diagnosis and more precise therapies for Parkinson’s and related disorders.
On the appointments, Centre Director Professor Miratul Muqit, said: “I am thrilled to welcome Professors Parkkinen, Magill and Houlden, to the Parkinson’s Research Centre. Their complementary expertise and rigorous approach to identifying and understanding new mechanisms in Parkinson’s significantly bolsters our ambition for the Centre to focus on the most challenging questions on the origins of Parkinson’s. Through collaboration, we will drive our research discoveries towards delivering for people with Parkinson’s, a key mission of the Centre. I look forward to working with them and sharing our research vision with the wider community at the formal launch of the Centre later this year.”
The new Group Leaders were selected through a highly competitive international recruitment process. An expert panel - chaired by UK DRI Director Prof Siddharthan Chandran and comprising UK DRI and Parkinson’s UK leadership, and a patient representative, Shafaq Ali - conducted the interviews, alongside senior university representatives from each host institute.
Professor David Dexter, Director of Research at Parkinson’s UK, added “This is another milestone in the establishment of the Parkinson’s Research Centre. We set out to find the best minds to tackle the growing global problem of Parkinson’s and I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to secure high calibre scientists, in a very competitive process. Each has their specific areas of expertise, which will come together under Miratul’s leadership, to speed up life changing research into new insights and life changing treatments for Parkinson’s.”
Meet the new Group leaders
Professor Laura Parkkinen - Next-generation human neuropathology to decode the mechanisms that drive Parkinson’s
At the UK DRI, Professor Parkkinen will pursue molecular-based research on human brain samples of Parkinson’s and related disorders. Her group will integrate digital pathology, laser microdissection and RNA and protein sequencing methods to better understand mechanisms governing dopamine neuron vulnerability and the role of other brain cell types in this process. This will advance new methods for pathological diagnosis and classification as well as drive new therapeutic ideas.
Professor Parkkinen says: “There’s no shortcut to finding new Parkinson’s treatments. We need to understand why certain brain cells develop pathological alpha-synuclein aggregates - and how to stop this. I’m really excited to be part of the UK DRI. These are also incredibly exciting times in the field of translational neuropathology, where we are now able to combine advanced molecular and protein-mapping techniques to explore the human brain in ways that were never possible before. I’m confident that this is where the next breakthroughs in Parkinson’s drug discovery will emerge.”
Professor Peter Magill - Investigating the molecular and cellular substrates of neural circuit dynamics in Parkinson’s
At the UK DRI, Professor Magill will advance fundamental research into the molecular circuit mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s. His studies will integrate molecular science with pre-clinical models to identify relevant mechanisms of neuronal vulnerability and which will identify and guide principles for the development of therapeutic approaches in Parkinson’s.
Professor Magill says: “I am thrilled to be joining the Parkinson’s Research Centre and to have the opportunity to contribute to the delivery of its distinctive vision. I look forward to collaborating with new colleagues at the Centre and across the UK DRI as we work together with our charity and public partners to fully realise the benefits of transformative research and make a difference to the lives of people affected by Parkinson’s.”
Professor Henry Houlden - Investigating the genetics of Parkinson’s and degenerative movement disorders across diverse global populations
(UCL)
At the UK DRI, Prof Houlden will continue to expand this work by mapping the genetic architecture of Parkinson’s disease and atypical parkinsonism across the UK, while strengthening international partnerships to accelerate disease gene discovery, large-scale GWAS, biomarker development and translational progress.
Find out more about the Centre on the UK DRI website