Sara Koe PSP Centre
Director: Professor Tom Warner
Overview
The Sara Koe PSP Research Centre (SKRC), based at the Institute of Neurology, is the first of its kind in the world dedicated to the study of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and the coordination of research into this disease in the UK and worldwide. The PSP Association funds a five year programme which supports a senior administrator, a clinical research fellow, and a senior research technician. SKRC is also supported by the Reta Lila Weston Institute of Neurological Studies, which funds additional staff to work on PSP, including a neuropathologist and a research nurse. SKRC has close links to the Queen Square Brain Bank for Neurological Disorders and this collaboration has enabled the development of a national collection of PSP brains for research. The Centre also maintains a reference library of published articles and papers on PSP and assists the Association in initiating new research into this disease.
For more information about the Sara Koe Centre please contact: Lynn Haddon (Tel: +44 (0)20 7837 8370) or see The PSP Association
Research
Dr Luke Massey joined the Sara Koe PSP Research Centre in August 2006. His work continues on from Dr Dominic Paviour's work on the role of MR imaging in PSP. With Professor Tarek Yousry of the Lysholm Department of Neuroradiology he is aiming to develop advanced MRI techniques as a tool both to help in distinguishing between the causes of 'atypical parkinsonism' and also as a surrogate marker of disease progression in vivo. He will also be involved in studying post mortem tissue using high field MRI to learn more about the relationship between the radiological appearance of the brain in PSP and related conditions, and pathological findings. Along with other members of Professor Lees team, he hopes to be involved in clinical trials in PSP which are at an early stage of planning.