Recognising motor impersistence at the bedside - our contribution to the 'Neurological Sign' section of BMJ Practical Neurology has now been published online! @ucl-hd.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social @uclbrainscience.bsky.social pn.bmj.com/content/earl...

Recognising motor impersistence at the bedside

Motor impersistence—the inability to sustain a voluntary motor action—is a subtle but clinically informative neurological sign. It is most commonly associated with right-hemisphere lesions involving t...

pn.bmj.com

Second 'RUN 4 HDYO' in honour of the life and legacy of Liv, while raising funds for the Olivia (Liv) Martinez Scholarship Fund to help more young people attend the #HDYO Congress in 2027 @hdyofeed.bsky.social @ucl-hd.bsky.social

Delighted to share our correspondence just published in @thelancetpsych.bsky.social. Many thanks to my brilliant co-authors Ying Hei Chu and Diego Kaski. Full text link: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Communication, expectancy, and placebo response in clinical trial design

The Review by Matthew J Burke and colleagues1 highlights the growing recognition that placebo and nocebo effects are biologically grounded phenomena capable of meaningfully influencing clinical outcom...

thelancet.com

Still feels surreal to say I defended my PhD viva with no corrections. Huge thanks to my examiners and supervisors for their support, and to everyone at @ucl-hd.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social who helped along this journey. As in my thesis dedication: for the #HD community. #PhDone 🥳

The current HD-ISS doesn't incorporate wet biomarkers. Dr. Mena Farag discusses the promising results of proenkephalin and other biomarkers to help monitor the earliest stages of HD before the onset of motor symptoms. https://loom.ly/j3VrGFs

So much @ucl-hd.bsky.social love at my leaving do! Thank you to everyone who made the last three years of my PhD journey such a joy. @uclbrainscience.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social

Signing off from the LWENC with this wonderful team. 3 years of teamwork, learning and shared commitment to our #HD clinical trials @ucl-hd.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social - thank you all for making it so special.

Discovery of disrupted sustained attention and altered functional connectivity in far‐from‐onset Huntington's disease gene‐expanded young adults alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Discovery of disrupted sustained attention and altered functional connectivity in far‐from‐onset Huntington's disease gene‐expanded young adults

BACKGROUND Cognitive impairments are a hallmark of Huntington's disease (HD). METHODS Seventy-one participants (43 HD gene-expanded [HDGE], 28 healthy controls) from the HD-Young Adult Study at tw...

alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Congratulations @drmfarag.bsky.social from @ucl-hd.bsky.social! 👏 @ukdri.ac.uk @uclqsion.bsky.social @uclbrainscience.bsky.social @uclnews.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk 🔗 www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-scienc...

Dr Mena Farag awarded a UK DRI Recognition Prize 2025

We're delighted that Dr Mena Farag (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) was awarded the UK DRI PhD Prize on 9th December 2025 at Connectome 2025.

ucl.ac.uk

I am incredibly honoured to share that I have been awarded the @ukdri.ac.uk PhD Prize at #Connectome 2025! @ucl-hd.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social @uclbrainscience.bsky.social

Open Access UCL Research: Huntington's disease clinical trials update: October 2025 discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...

Check out the October 2025 edition of the #HD Clinical Trials Update, now published in the Journal of Huntington's Disease and available online! 🔗 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... @profwild.bsky.social @ucl-hd.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social @uclbrainscience.bsky.social

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

🎉 Congratulations to Prof. Sarah Tabrizi ( @ucl-hd.bsky.social, @uclqsion.bsky.social) who has won the prestigious @britishneuro.bsky.social prize for her outstanding contributions to neuroscience! www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/no...

A secondary analysis of the TEMPO-2 RCT found no significant improvement in outcomes for minor ischemic stroke patients treated with intravenous tenecteplase, regardless of the presence of disabling deficits. ja.ma/3WT9IHi

Cerebrospinal Fluid Proenkephalin Predicts Striatal Atrophy Decades before Clinical Motor Diagnosis in Huntington's Disease movementdisorders.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Amid this week’s huge milestone in #HD treatment, I’m excited to share part of my PhD thesis + our paper published today in @movedisorder.bsky.social on CSF #PENK predicting striatal atrophy decades before clinical motor diagnosis 🔗 movementdisorders.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Cerebrospinal Fluid Proenkephalin Predicts Striatal Atrophy Decades before Clinical Motor Diagnosis in Huntington's Disease

Background Huntington's disease (HD) is characterized by early, selective, progressive vulnerability of striatal medium spiny neurons (MSNs). Proenkephalin (PENK), a precursor of opioid peptides abu...

movementdisorders.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

A major milestone was reached yesterday in neurodegenerative medicine, advancing hope for those affected by Huntington’s disease🧵

Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time

One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that can slow its progression and transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.

eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

🧵 BREAKING: Gene therapy shows promise in slowing Huntington’s disease progression. A major milestone in neurodegenerative disease research. @uclqsion.bsky.social @ucl-hd.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time

One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that can slow its progression and transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.

bbc.co.uk

Open Access UCL Research: Bias in HD-ISS staging introduced by the FreeSurfer cross-sectional stream: Insights from the Huntington's Disease Young Adult Study (HD-YAS) discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...

The oncogenic KRAS mutation has been the subject of intense investigation. In The Lancet, a new phase 3 trial reports on adagrasib versus docetaxel in KRASG12C-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer. This and more in our latest issue 👉 bit.ly/4mi7T1y

In 2015, just out of medical school, I’d never have imagined seeing my name in @thelancet.com! Our review on vesicular monoamine transport (#VMAT) inhibitors is published today. @uclqsion.bsky.social @uclbrainscience.bsky.social 🔗 Read the full article here: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Vesicular monoamine transport inhibitors: current uses and future directions

Advancements over the past decade in understanding vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) inhibitors highlight their key role in the treatment of movement and neuropsychiatric disorders. VMAT2 is c...

thelancet.com

Here's an open access link to full text of our paper shared last week! rdcu.be/evKF9

Important paper on accessible biomarkers from @hob-lab.bsky.social. Well done Annabelle Coleman @drl-bo.bsky.social and all.

UCL Huntington’s Disease Centre@ucl-hd.bsky.social · last yr.

New paper from the @hob-lab.bsky.social just published in Journal of Neurology. A step toward more accessible biomarker testing 🩸 link.springer.com/article/10.1... @drl-bo.bsky.social @uclbrainscience.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social

I am unbelievably proud to have my first senior author paper published today! It was a long slog through multiple review cycles but we got there! A big thank you to my lab members and all the collaborators and participants who contributed to this work! 🥲

House of Byrne Lab@hob-lab.bsky.social · last yr.

We are delighted to present the first publication out of the lab, available online today, titled ‘Evaluating finger-prick blood collection for remote quantification of neurofilament light in neurological diseases’ link.springer.com/article/10.1...

We are delighted to present the first publication out of the lab, available online today, titled ‘Evaluating finger-prick blood collection for remote quantification of neurofilament light in neurological diseases’ link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Evaluating finger-prick blood collection for remote quantification of neurofilament light in neurological diseases - Journal of Neurology

Promising blood-based biomarkers of neuropathology have emerged with potential for therapeutic development and disease monitoring. However, these tools will require specialist tertiary services for in...

link.springer.com

New paper from the @hob-lab.bsky.social just published in Journal of Neurology. A step toward more accessible biomarker testing 🩸 link.springer.com/article/10.1... @drl-bo.bsky.social @uclbrainscience.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social

Evaluating finger-prick blood collection for remote quantification of neurofilament light in neurological diseases - Journal of Neurology

Promising blood-based biomarkers of neuropathology have emerged with potential for therapeutic development and disease monitoring. However, these tools will require specialist tertiary services for in...

link.springer.com

Super fun first 5K #RUN4HDYO! 🏃 💨 🏃‍♀️‍ Over £2500 raised for the Olivia (Liv) Martinez Scholarship Fund for HDYO - honouring an amazing ambassador I met at #HDYO Congress in Glasgow in 2023. Liv's kindness and passion touched so many. @ucl-hd.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social

A series of digital tests carried out via a smartphone app could enhance the detection of disease progression in #HuntingtonsDisease and improve the efficiency of clinical trials, finds research led by scientists at @uclqsion.bsky.social @ucl-hd.bsky.social and Roche including @profwild.bsky.social

Smartphone tests could accelerate drug development for Huntington’s disease

A series of digital tests, carried out via a smartphone app, could enhance the detection of disease progression in Huntington’s disease and improve the efficiency of clinical trials, finds research le...

ucl.ac.uk