Author: Simon

I am the Director of Research at Cure Parkinson's. Before that I was working as a Parkinson's research scientist at the University of Cambridge where I conducted both clinical- and lab-based research on Parkinson's. I have worked in the Parkinson's research field for over 15 years - both academically and in biotech ventures. All of my views/opinions expressed here are solely my own, and may not reflect the views of my employer or associated parties.

Monthly Research Review-October 2025

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during October 2025.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

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So, what happened during October 2025?

In world news:

October 1st – Scientists report the detection of organic molecules on Enceladus, based on plume samples taken by the Cosmic Dust Analyzer on the Cassini spacecraft (Click here to read more about this).

 

October 10th – Crypto enthusiasts were left puzzled as to how just 30 minutes before President Trump’s surprise announcement of 100% China tariffs, an individual (@​bigwinner01) opened a massive, multi-million dollar leveraged short position on Bitcoin, and made $88 million in just two hours… and then closed the position (Click here to read more about this).

 

October 20th – Japan finally joined the list of countries to have female leaders – Sanae Takaichi made history as Japan’s first female prime minister. There are 73 women in Japan’s Lower House, representing just 15.7% of the 465-seat chamber (Click here to read more about this).

 

October 27th – “At the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific” (Click here to read more about this).

 

October 28th – OpenAI was founded as a non-profit in 2015 with a mission to safely build “artificial general intelligence” for humanity’s benefit. Now, it’s not so ‘open’. OpenAI has now “converted its main business into a for-profit corporation, the conclusion of a lengthy and fraught legal saga” (Click here to read more about this – Sam Altman scares me…)

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In October 2025, there were 1,257 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (11,069 for all of 2025 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review-October 2025” →

Monthly Research Review – September 2025

~ Simon ~ Leave a comment

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during September 2025.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

# # # #

So, what happened during September 2025?

In world news:

September 5th – Chemists at the University of Copenhagen made a new material called BAETA from old plastic bottles. It can catch CO2 from the air. Making BAETA does not need much energy and it can be made a scale (Click here and here to read more about this).

 

September 8th – Elusive street artist Banksy unveiled a mural on London’s Royal Courts of Justice, depicting a judge attacking a pro-Palestine protester with a gavel. The artwork was quickly covered up by large sheets of plastic and metal barriers, and court officials said the work would be removed (Click here to read more about this).

 

September 9th – Protesters set fire to Nepal’s parliament building in Kathmandu as “Generation Z” protests against Government corruption and social media bans escalated (Click here to read more about this).

 

September 9th – University of Florida researchers develop a chip that replaces electricity with light for key AI tasks. Using microscopic lenses etched onto silicon, it performs laser-powered computations with drastically lower energy and near-perfect accuracy (Click here and here to read more about this).

 

September 17th – NASA announces the 6,000th confirmed exoplanet (Click here to read more about this).

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In September 2025, there were 1,101 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (9,812 for all of 2025 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – September 2025” →

Monthly Research Review – August 2025

~ Simon ~ Leave a comment

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during August 2025.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

# # # #

So, what happened during August 2025?

In world news:

August 1st – Following the publication of low US employment figures (and revised down May and June numbers), President Trump fired the commissioner of labor statistics, Erika McEntarfer (Click here to read more about this).

 

August 4th – The Tesla board approved an “interim award” of 96 million restricted shares (worth a staggering new $29 billion) for their billionaire CEO Elon Musk (Click here to read more about this) …. while Tesla sales around the world fell, for example down 84% in Sweden and down 42% in Denmark in August (Click here to read more about this).

 

August 8th –  Researchers at the University of Adelaide report a way of using sunlight to dissolve Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (also PFAS), causing these so-called “forever chemicals” to break down into a range of harmless substances including fluoride (Click here to read more about this).

 

August 15th – The USA rolled out the red carpet for Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Alaska to discuss a peace plan. And after weeks of threating “severe consequences” if no peace deal was made at the summit, President Trump claimed ‘great progress’ had been made, before suggesting that it was now up to Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “get it done” (Click here to read more about this).

 

August 28th – Possibly the best action photo in the modern age of tennis (Click here to read more about this):

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In August 2025, there were 1,002 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (8,711 for all of 2025 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – August 2025” →

Monthly Research Review-July 2025

~ Simon ~ Leave a comment

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during July 2025.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

# # # #

So, what happened during July 2025?

In world news:

July 4–7th – Flooding in Central Texas left devastation (Click here to read more).

 

8th July – De-extinction company Colossal Biosciences announces a plan to resurrect the moa, a giant flightless bird from New Zealand that once stood up to 3.6 metres (12 ft) in height (Click here to read more about this).

 

18 July – The British Antarctic Survey reports the extraction of 1.5 million-year-old ice cores from depths of 2,800 metres in East Antarctica. The samples, containing bubbles of trapped CO2, could significantly improve the understanding of Earth’s climate history by nearly doubling the current ice core record of 800,000 years (Click here to read more about this).

 

18th July – A new bill introduced in July gave Danes copyright of their own faces, making it illegal to share deepfake images, videos and audio recordings based on a real person (Click here to read more about this).

 

24th July – Scientists develop an AI platform that designs custom protein minibinders in weeks, enabling T cells to selectively target and destroy cancer cells in lab experiments (Click here to read more about this).

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In July 2025, there were 897 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (7,709 for all of 2025 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 6 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review-July 2025” →

Monthly Research Review – June 2025

~ Simon ~ Leave a comment

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during June 2025.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

# # # #

So, what happened during June 2025?

In world news:

June 1st – Ukraine launched Operation Spiderweb – a large drone attack on Russian military bases. More than 40 aircraft of the Russian Air Force were destroyed (Click here to read more about this).

 

June 11th – The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter provided the first ever view of the Sun’s south pole (Click here to read more about this).

 

June 14th – In Opatija (Croatia), Vitomir Maričić performed an oxygen-assisted breath hold  clocking in at 29 min and 3 seconds – shattering the previous record by nearly a full five minutes (Click here to read more about this).

 

June 17th – A drone show in Chongqing, China featured 11,787 drones, setting a new Guinness World Record for the “largest aerial image formed by drones”. The show celebrated the city’s 28th anniversary as a municipality.

 

June 23rd – The first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory were released… and they did not disappoint!

 

June 26th – Researchers enable near-infrared spatiotemporal color vision in humans with contact lenses (Click here to read more about this).

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In June 2025, there were 1,028 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (6,812 for all of 2025 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – June 2025” →

Monthly Research Review – May 2025

~ Simon ~ Leave a comment

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during May 2025.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

# # # #

So, what happened during May 2025?

In world news:

May 2nd – 27 years after leaving England, Karl Bushby crossed the Bosphorus Strait and entered Europe on his attempt to be the first person to completely walk an unbroken path around the world. He began his 36,000-mile (58,000 km) journey on 1 November 1998.

 

May 8th – Researchers at CERN announced that the ALICE experiment had detected the conversion of lead into gold (Click here to read more about this)

 

May 21st – A major clinical trial, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, reveals that vitamin D supplements may be able to reduce biological aging, preserving telomeres and potentially adding three years to life/healthspan (Click here to read more about this).

 

May 22nd – A report from Murdoch University in Australia found that agricultural soils holds approximately 23 times more microplastics than the oceans (Click here to read more about this).

 

May 28th – The “Taco” trade – an acronym for “Trump Always Chickens Out” – became a popular trading strategy for Wall street investors to make money off the chaotic, but predictable outcomes of tariff and political decisions being employed by the Trump administration (Click here to read more about this).

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In May 2025, there were 981 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (5,784 for all of 2025 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 6 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – May 2025” →

Monthly Research Review – April 2025

~ Simon ~ Leave a comment

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during April 2025.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

# # # #

So, what happened during April 2025?

In world news:

April 1st – Fram2, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, becomes the first crewed spaceflight to enter a polar retrograde orbit, i.e., to fly over Earth’s poles.

 

April 2nd – “Liberation Day” (???): US President Donald Trump sought trade negotiation leverage by issuing sweeping trade tariffs on many countries – including Australia (with which the US has a trade surplus AND a free trade agreement (???) (Click here to read more about this). …and just 7 days later, President Trump blinked when the bond market started shifting in the wrong direction.

 

April 17th – Scientists reported that the atmosphere of K2-18b, a candidate water world located 124 light-years from Earth, may contain large quantities of dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide – two compounds that, on Earth, are only known to be produced by life (click here to read more about this).

 

April 21st – Pope Francis, who served as head of the Catholic Church since 2013, passed away at the age of 88.

 

April 28th – Incredible comeback: The Canadian Liberal Party (led by Mark Carney) won re-election for a fourth time, forming a minority government after being 20 percentage points behind in January, fueled in part by a backlash against U.S. President Trump’s tariffs and comments about making Canada the 51st U.S. state (again: ???) (Source).

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In April 2025, there were 1,184 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (4,803 for all of 2025 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – April 2025” →

Monthly Research Review – March 2025

~ Simon ~ Leave a comment

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during March 2025.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

# # # #

So, what happened during March 2025?

In world news:

March 1st – 50% of food consumed in Gaza is produced in the region. Analysing PlanetScope and SkySat-sourced satellite imagery, a newly published paper reported that between October 2023 and September 2024, 64–70% of tree crop fields and 58% of greenhouses were damaged on agricultural land in Gaza. “By the end of 2023, all greenhouses in North Gaza and Gaza City had been damaged” (Click here to read the report and click here to a press summary).

 

March 4th – Colossal Biosciences creates woolly mice as part of de-extinction efforts for the woolly mammoth (Click here to read more about this).

 

March 6th – Two days after pausing military aid to Ukraine, the US Government temporarily suspended Ukrainian accounts in GEGD (the Global Enhanced GEOINT Delivery program) limiting intelligence sharing with Kyiv (Click here to read more about this).

 

March 11th – The United States agreed to resume military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Kyiv said it was ready to support Washington’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia (Click here to read more about this) .

 

March 14th – The Portuguese Defence Minister Nuno Melo announced that the country had decided against acquiring the Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter, citing concerns over the unpredictability of U.S. policy and the current geopolitical situation (Click here to read more about this). One day later, Canada also expressed interest in exploring alternatives (Remember kids: Marriages, markets and military alliances are built on trust. And never give your counter parties any reason for doubt).

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In March 2025, there were 1,095 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (3,619 for all of 2025 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 6 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – March 2025” →

The Phase 3 Exenatide results

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Since the results of a Phase 2b clinical trial were published in 2017, the Parkinson’s community has focused a lot of attention on a class of diabetes drugs called Glucagon-like peptide-1 (or GLP-1) agonists. 

Last year, the results of another Phase 2 GLP-1 agonist study in Parkinson’s provided further encouraging data. And a lot of people had high hopes for a large Phase 3 clinical trial that reported this year.

Unfortunately, the new results did not replicate the previous findings.

In today’s post, we will look at what GLP-1 agonists are, what the Phase 3 results report, and consider possible next steps for the field.

EDITORIAL NOTE: While the UK Government (National Institute for Health and Care Research) was the primary funder of the Phase 3 exenatide study, Cure Parkinson’s did fund brain imaging and wearable sub-studies attached to the trial. The author of this blog is an employee of Cure Parkinson’s.

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Dragons

The Gila monster. Source: Californiaherps

Some interesting facts about the Gila (pronounced ‘Hila’) monster:

  • They are named after the Gila River Basin of New Mexico and Arizona (where these lizards were first found – a beautiful part of the world!)
  • They are protected by State law
  • They are venomous, but very sluggish creatures
  • They spend 90% of their time underground in burrows (Source).

Source: docseward

So how do they survive? What do they eat?

Good question. They are opportunistic and infrequent eaters. When outside, Gila monsters will eat small birds, snakes, lizards, frogs, and insects. They store fat in their tails and as a result they do not need to eat often. Wikipedia says that “Three to four extensive meals in spring are claimed to give Gila monsters enough energy for a whole season“, noting that they are “capable of consuming up to one-third of their body weight in a single meal” (Source).

But once they have digested the food, don’t they get hungry after a day or so?

Well, the Gila monster has an amazing ability to maintain a constant blood sugar level even after long periods without food. And this particular feature intrigued some scientists who started digging into the biological mechanism behind this superpower.

And what did they find?

Continue reading “The Phase 3 Exenatide results” →

Monthly Research Review – February 2025

~ Simon ~ 2 Comments

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during February 2025.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

# # # #

So, what happened during February 2025?

In world news:

February 1st – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has written a letter to Google asking the firm to reconsider its decision to change the name of the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ to the ‘Gulf of America’ (Click here to read more about this).

 

February 5th – Remember “don’t be evil”? The Google-search engine owner, Alphabet, dropped its promise not to use artificial intelligence for purposes such as developing weapons and surveillance tools, citing “national security” as the reason (Click here to read more about this).

 

February 13th – Scientists at the University of Cambridge report the creation of a solar-powered reactor that pulls carbon dioxide directly from the air and converts it into sustainable fuel (Click here to read more about this).

 

February 15th – Muhsin Hendricks was fatally shot on in Bethelsdorp, Eastern Cape province of South Africa (now go away and learn about the courage of this man – click here to read more).

 

February 19th – On a more positive note: Google launched their new AI “Co Scientist“, which was used to identify the same result in just two days that took scientists years to find (Click here to read more about this).

 

26th February – I mean… what is there to actually say… the President of the United States of America posted an AI generated video on social media that was… at best… baffling??? (and this was before the “ambush in the oval office”. The rest of the world watches on in disbelief. One exhausting month down, 47 still to go).

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In February 2025, there were 1,142 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (2,524 for all of 2025 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – February 2025” →