Parkinson’s disease and synaptic autophagy

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Parkinson’s disease is a very common neurodegenerative disease. Dopaminergic neuron dysfunction and synapse loss are common hallmarks, and familial forms of this disease are caused by mutations in one of over 20 different genetic loci. It is however not clear which are the common underlying pathways that lead to disease. Patrik will talk about recent work on how they are moving to stratify this complex disorder and how they have uncovered important inroads into this disorder by discovering a role for synapse-centred forms of autophagy.



From 28 Mar 2025 11:30
Until 28 Mar 2025 12:30
Location FSVMI building, seminar room

Speaker Patrik Verstreken
Affiliation VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research and KU Leuven Department of Neurosciences
Host Mathieu Bertrand

Stream View stream
Stream ID 818 3460 7665
Stream Password 567261

About the speaker

Patrik Verstreken studied Bioengineering at the university of Brussels and moved in 1998 to the medical centre in Houston Texas for his PhD and postdoc.

He joined the faculty at KU Leuven and became VIB group leader in 2007, and director of the VIB-KU Leuven Centre for Brain & Disease research in 2017. Patrik’s work has been recognised by several honours, including the AstraZeneca Award, the IBRO-Kemali prize in Neuroscience and he is an EMBO member. With support of four ERC grants, including a recent Advanced Grant, Patrik’s lab investigates the underlying causes of neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s disease and dementia, and builds new tools and insight to counteract disease-induced dysfunction. This led to numerous publications, patents, and the foundation of a biotech start-up.

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Seminar