Inaugural Lecture: Professor Chris Shaw
Date: 17 October 2022
Title: Gene therapy strategies for motor neuron disease
In his inaugural lecture, Professor Shaw discussed the remarkable progress recently achieved with a pioneering gene therapy delivery method for patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). SMA is characterised by the loss of motor neurons, or nerve cells, in the spinal cord and is classified as a motor neuron disease. This progress has sparked a proliferation of gene therapy programmes for many neurodegenerative disorders.
Professor Shaw's team has led the discovery of several genes responsible for motor neuron disease (MND) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and has recently launched a spinout gene therapy company.
This talk provided an update on current approaches for gene therapies for MND and FTD, with the aim of finding more effective therapies for people with these devastating neurodegenerative disorders.
