The Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre (OPDC) is a unique interdisciplinary research centre focussed on understanding the earliest pathological pathways in Parkinson's disease, founded by the £5m Monument Discovery award from the Parkinson's UK.

The OPDC brings together internationally-recognised scientists with strengths in genetics and genomics, transgenic rodent models, in vivo neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and neuropharmacology of the basal ganglia, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and analysis of protein biomarkers, work closely with experts in the clinical epidemiology and clinical neurology of Parkinson's disease. 

The goal is to uncover the earliest pathological pathways of Parkinson’s disease that will lead to improved methods of earlier diagnosis, identification of new molecular targets for therapy, and generation of new improved models suitable for testing neuroprotective treatment.

With the help of early Parkinson’s disease patients, their close relatives and age-matched individuals without Parkinson’s disease, the OPDC will be able to develop new strategies for early diagnosis and intervention.

In a very recent development, OPDC researchers played a major role in the launch of StemBANCC. Find out more about this by reading the full press release.

 Watch the video to find out more about OPDC work