Mena Farag

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 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...

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/...

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.

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...

Above all, I want to thank the incredible #HD-YAS participants, whose commitment, generosity and time made this work possible. As my PhD journey ends, it’s been a privilege to contribute to research bringing us closer to preventive therapies for HD, and I’m truly humbled to receive this recognition.

My heartfelt thanks go to my superb PhD supervisors (Professors Sarah Tabrizi, @rachiscahill.bsky.social and @profwild.bsky.social), my thesis committee (Professors Henrik Zetterberg and @profgeraintrees.bsky.social), collaborators and to my colleagues and friends @ucl-hd.bsky.social.

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...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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

🎉 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/...

For the first time, we show that baseline CSF PENK predicts longitudinal striatal atrophy and also outperforms NfL in distinguishing HD-ISS 0 vs 1, supporting CSF PENK as a striatum-specific biomarker to enrich early HD trials and inform future preventive trial design.

@ucl-hd.bsky.social
@uclbrainscience.bsky.social
@uclqsion.bsky.social
@michael-murphy32.bsky.social
@nicolahobbs.bsky.social
@drmichelaleocadi.bsky.social
@ajh1269.bsky.social
@profwild.bsky.social
@rachiscahill.bsky.social

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...

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/...

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.

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.

🧵 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...

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

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...

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...

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.

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! 🥲

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...

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...

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

🏃‍♀️ Run 4 HDYO Olivia (Liv) Martinez Scholarship Fund– 5K Charity Run/Walk at Battersea Park 📅 Saturday, June 28th, 2025 | 🕘 8:30 AM | 📍 Battersea Park, London (Carriage Drive West) Come join us for a 5K run or walk to raise awareness of Huntington’s Disease and support the amazing work of

Huge thanks to @drmichelaleocadi.bsky.social and #HDYO for organising this fantastic event! Donate now and please support young people impacted by Huntington's disease: hdyo.enthuse.com/pf/huntingto...