Mayo scientist appointed to Scientific Advisory Board of
Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

Monday, June 16, 2003

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June 16, 2003 — The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research has appointed Matthew Farrer, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at Mayo Clinic, to its Scientific Advisory Board. The 12-member board is an international, multidisciplinary group of leading Parkinson's researchers and clinicians. Members are actively involved with all the strategic meetings, grant review sessions, and other activities that guide the foundation's scientific and research policies.

Scientific Advisory Board membership reflects the major areas of Parkinson's research. Periodically the board considers whether an area of research is not represented. If such an area is identified, the board considers an expert who would best fill the gap. Individuals considered must be experts in their field, yet have the ability to evaluate the whole scope of Parkinson's research.

Farrer, who received a $250,000 grant from the foundation earlier this year, was invited to join its Scientific Advisory Board because of his expertise in the genetics of complex traits. In addition, the foundation says Farrer's reputation for hard work, enthusiasm for sharing information, genetic resources and knowledge of new and developing high-tech research tools made him an ideal selection.

Farrer's research group works on the molecular genetics of Parkinson's disease and related movement disorders. His group is a vital part of the prestigious Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Research Center of Excellence at Mayo Clinic. His lab's immediate aim is to find an accurate diagnosis and to halt the disease progression. "It's a great honor for me," Farrer says, "as well as for my research group and Mayo Clinic."

Through advances in genetics and analysis of DNA kindly donated by families, Parkinson's patients and volunteers, Farrer says it has become apparent Parkinson's disease is not one single disorder, but a complex syndrome. "Our work to identify the molecular components disturbed and the biochemical pathway or pathways affected in Parkinson's will allow novel drugs to be designed that are aimed at causes rather than just the symptoms of the disease," Farrer says.

Genetic discoveries made by his team continue to be used to create cellular and animal models of Parkinsonism needed for developing new therapies. Farrer shares genetic insights and resources from his lab with other academic researchers without restriction. More about Farrer's Parkinson's disease research can be found by visiting www.mayo.edu/fpd.

Farrer received a degree in biochemistry at King's College London, prior to completing his doctoral thesis in human genetics at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, Imperial College, London. He went on to a postdoctoral position at the Kennedy Galton Center, Medical and Community Genetics at St. Mark's Hospital, Harrow, United Kingdom. He moved to the United States in 1997 for a senior postdoctoral fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., where he is now a senior associate consultant and assistant professor of neuroscience. He also runs a Mayo postgraduate course in "Applied Statistical and Molecular Genetics" focused on neurogenetics, and serves on the editorial board of Movement Disorders.

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