The Global Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Stephen's work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
About Stephen
I am a neurologist and clinical academic with a research interest in Parkinson disease. My primary interest is the genetic and clinical stratification of the risk of Parkinson disease for targeting of novel neuroprotective compounds. I also have expertise in clinical trial design and implementation and internet based clinical assessment in Parkinson disease.
To date the majority of my research has centered on the glucocerebrosidase (GBA) pathway, numerically the most significant genetic risk factor for Parkinson disease. This included the day to day running of a phase II clinical trial of ambroxol, a putative neuroprotective and small molecular chaperone of the glucocerebrosidase enzyme (GCase). Additionally I jointly run an internet based cohort study, Rapsodi (http://rapsodistudy.com), which aims to stratify GBA mutations carriers without Parkinson disease in terms of their disease risk using clinical, genetic and biochemical parameters. I also run a http://pdfrontline.com, a portal of genotyping of those with Parkinson disease for GBA and LRRK2. The ultimate of these studies is provide a cost effective platform for targeting of future neuroprotective compounds.
I have a burgeoning interest in the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve care, solve clinical problems and answer mechanistic question in relation to Parkinson's and other disease areas. I head an ongoing project which aims to use routine imaging data, collected from across the South West Peninsula, to develop novel biomarkers of the development of Parkinson's.
