Talks and Q&A with Prof Jody Mason and Prof Myra Conway from our Bristol and Bath Research Network.
They spoke about how proteins are made, folded and recycled in the brain, and how this can go wrong in Alzheimer’s, leading to damage to nerve cells. They shared research exploring ways to prevent this from going wrong, and how this could lead to new treatments for the disease.
Speakers
Prof Myra Conway is a Professor of Biomedical Science at the University of the West of England. Her talk will focus on a recycling system that brain cells use to remove waste, called autophagy. Prof Conway is interested in how autophagy may go wrong and whether this contributes to the build-up of protein clumps in the brain in Alzheimer’s. She will share insights from lab experiments where she has altered autophagy, and discuss how this could pave the way for the development of new treatments.
Alzheimer’s has been identified as a ‘protein misfolding’ disease, caused by the build-up of toxic proteins in the brain. Prof Jody Mason is a Professor of Biochemistry at University of Bath, where he leads a group studying how these proteins are made, their contribution to Alzheimer’s, and what is being done by scientists to combat the disease. He will share how they are trying to identify molecules that could stick to and shut down the function of key toxic proteins implicated in Alzheimer’s disease.
For more information or questions about the event, please email the Public Engagement team engage@alzheimersresearchuk.org
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