Thanks to your ongoing support, PSPA was able to fund three Small Research Grants during 2023 and 2024.
In 2023, we allocated £20,000 to our Small Research Grants and below are details of what research these funds helped to progress:
Dr Boyd Ghosh (University Hospital Southampton), Consultant Neurologist, was awarded £2,700
Dr Boyd Ghosh was given a Small Research Grant to help study the use of feeding tubes in people living with Atypical Parkinsonian Syndromes, including PSP & CBD.
Dr Ghosh’s study will run throughout 2024 and investigate if feeding tubes are beneficial for people with PSP & CBD. This would allow for better guidance for Neurologists and Allied-healthcare professionals. If found to be beneficial, more patients could benefit from this intervention.
Dr Mansoureh Fahimi Hnazaee (UCL), Research Fellow, was awarded £9,800
Starting her study in 2024, Dr Mansoureh Fahimi Hnazaee is looking into Non-invasive neurophysiological assessment of the human brainstem in vivo.
This study will run until January 2025 and will aim to investigate a new non-invasive piece of technology called optically pumped magnetoencephalography (OP-MEG)’s potential to study the brain stem in two healthy individuals. This will allow them to build a framework to use this new tech to study in PSP, MSA and Parkinson’s, to investigate if OP-MEG complements current methods for improved early diagnosis.
Dr Patrick Cullinane (UCL), Clinical Research Fellow, was awarded £5,000
PSPA’s Small Research Grants will help Dr Patrick Cullinane study Nanopore sensing of tau post-translational modifications.
Dr Cullinane’s study began in August 2024. This project will look at how tau is modified before folding and if this may contribute to abnormal folding/clumping by using new nanopore technology. The data will help improve understanding of why tau may misfold and become toxic to cells but will also inform the development of biological markers that can be detected in the early stages, improving diagnosis.
PSPA is currently calling for applications for the 2024 Small Research Grants. Find out more about the grants and how to apply at https://www.pspassociation.org.uk/research/funding-opportunities-for-researchers/pspa-small-research-grants/
