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Poster for Autophagy in London public lecture

Public lecture: The autophagy signaling network, c-­‐myc and pathology: don't mess with the cell cycle!

You are invited to a public lecture by Francesco Cecconi, an eminent scientist in the field of autophagy and neurodegeneration, on Thursday the 25th of April at 17:00, in the lecture theatre of 33 Queen Square, University College Hospital London, WC1N. The lecture will be followed by a general discussion with drinks and food. More...

Link to film: Brain Disease Research - Keeping You You

Video: Brain Disease Research - Keeping You You


Have you ever wondered how scientists research the brain? Have you wondered who digs through that beautiful mass of grey matter between our ears to understand how it works and why it stops working? Meet the Neurodegenerative Diseases Initiative. Funded by the Wellcome Trust and MRC, this team of scientists from around the globe investigates Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Motor Neuron Diseases. The team is on the hunt for understanding and treatments for brain diseases. More...

Degenerating Brains public symposium - 13th March 2013

Video: Degenerating Brains public symposium


The "Degenerating Brains" public symposium was held on the 13th March 2013, as part of Brain Awareness Week. Around 250 people showed up to hear Professors John Hardy (UCL), Chris Shaw (KCL) and David Rubinsztein (Cambridge) discuss new discoveries in neurodegenerative diseases and how they might impact drug treatment. More...

Colour-enhanced image of a mitochondrion showing the internal membranes (cristae) and enzyme complexes. Credit Dr David Furness, Wellcome Images.

Mutations in VCP gene implicated in a number of neurodegenerative diseases

New research, published in Neuron, gives insight into how single mutations in the VCP gene cause a range of neurological conditions including a form of dementia called Inclusion Body Myopathy, Paget’s Disease of the Bone and Frontotemporal Dementia (IBMPFD), and the motor neuron disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). More...

Poster for Degenerating brains: new research into Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Motor Neuron Disease

Public lectures: new research into Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Motor Neuron Disease

You are invited to an evening (13th March 2013) exploring the very latest in cutting edge research into neurodegenerative diseases. Supported by the Wellcome Trust, scientists investigating Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Motor Neuron disease will explain how our understanding of these disorders is changing in the light of new discoveries in genetics and cell biology, and how these discoveries impact on developing new drugs for these diseases.

18.00 Welcome and introduction

18.10 Lectures commence

More...

Dario Alessi

(Co-Investigator)

Dario Alessi


Dario Alessi was born in France, attended high school in Brussels and obtained a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham, UK in 1988. He received a Ph.D. in 1991 for work on the synthesis and use of spin-labelled ATP analogues to study muscle contraction under the joint supervision of Ian Trayer (University of Birmingham) and David Trentham FRS (National Institute of Medical Research, Mill Hill, London). He then carried out postdoctoral research with Sir Philip Cohen FRS in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit at Dundee from 1991 to 1997, where he became fascinated by protein kinases and how they are regulated by insulin, growth factors and other extracellular signals that control almost all aspects of cell biology.

In 1998 Dario became a Programme Leader in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit, University of Dundee where he has worked ever since. A key focus of his current research is to understand the regulation and physiological roles of key protein kinases that implicated in human disease and to exploit findings emerging from these studies to develop novel treatments for disease.

Prof Alessi was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2008.


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Link to publications