Oxford MND Research

Final day at #alsmndsymp! Watch out for Yiran in the morning session on Fus #ALS

We also have a range of posters today, so please come and check them out this evening! #alsmndsymp

Day 2 at #alsmndsymp in sunny San Diego! Look out for Christos talking later today.

Team @mndoxford.bsky.social are excited to be here in San Diego for #alsmndsymp! We have a range of posters and talks so please come and chat to us! See below for today's talks and posters:

Reduced beta bursting underpins loss of corticomuscular coherence in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Yoganathan et al. found reduced connectivity between brain and muscle (corticomuscular coherence) in motor neuron disease patients using magnetoencephalogr

New paper from Katie & team: reduced beta bursting in motor cortex drives loss of connectivity between cortex & muscle in #ALS, highlighting a cerebral basis for disrupted motor control. This opens avenues for earlier diagnosis & new trial endpoints. #MND
doi.org/10.1093/brai...

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia Have Distinct Prediagnostic Blood Biochemical Profiles Objective Identifying modifiable factors influencing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) risk is important for prevention. Blood biomarkers, particularly cholestero...

New paper from Christos & team: In UK primary care data, higher LDL & total cholesterol linked with ↑ #ALS risk, higher creatinine linked with ↓ #FTD risk, and HbA1c showed a non-linear FTD association. #MND

doi.org/10.1002/ana....

Thoughtful blog from Lee Millard @onein300.bsky.social discussing the role that drug repurposing can have in the development of treatments for #ALS #MND. onein300.com/2025/09/24/t...

Postdoctoral Research Scientist at University of Oxford Recruiting now: Postdoctoral Research Scientist on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job opportunities on the top job board

🚨Come and join us! Postdoc position here at @mndoxford.bsky.social, working on identifying the link between dysfunctional mitochondria and synapses in #ALS/
#FTD neurons by optogenetics and subcellular proteomics with @ruxandradaf.bsky.social. Check out the details: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOO661/p...

TDP-43 pathology is associated with divergent protein profiles in ALS brain and spinal cord - Acta Neuropathologica Communications Neuronal and glial cytoplasmic inclusions positive for TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) are the defining pathological hallmark of 97% of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 50% of frontotempora...

New paper from Emily and team, quantifying differences in aggregated proteins in cortex and spinal cord in #ALS, #PD and #AD. In #ALS, spinal cord and cortex aggregates are enriched in proteins encoded by #ALS genes. #MND Check it out here: actaneurocomms.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Gamma activation spread reflects disease activity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis A non-invasive measure of cerebral motor system dysfunction would be valuable as a biomarker in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Task-based magnet…

New paper from Michael and team: people with #ALS showed more widespread brain activity during a simple hand grip task than healthy controls, despite similar grip strength. This 'compensated' brain activity pattern may help track disease progression. #MND

Neurodegenerative disease in C9orf72 repeat expansion carriers: population risk and effect of UNC13A The C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion is associated with ALS and certain forms of dementia, though its exact penetrance remains unclear. In a UK popu

New paper out from Jiali and team. Using @ukbiobank.bsky.social data, we quantified how #ALS and #dementia incidence increase with age in carriers of #C9orf72 expansion, and demonstrated that a common #UNC13A variant nearly doubles disease risk. #ALS #MND #FTD. academic.oup.com/brain/articl...

Beatrix from the team is attending #MNDEnCouRage this week, getting to know some of the community and sharing her work #MND #ALS #ECR @mndresearch.bsky.social

Here, Dr Ruxandra Dafinca who is funded by the Foundation through our 2024 Catalyst Award, gives an insight on her research and its potential impact for identifying new therapeutic targets for MND 🔬

@ruxandradaf.bsky.social @mndoxford.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk

A Validated Model to Predict Severe Weight Loss in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Severe weight loss in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is common, multifactorial, and associated with shortened survival. Using longitudinal weight data from over 6000 patients with ALS across thr...

Severe weight loss is a major problem for people living with #ALS. New research led by David helps predict who is at highest risk. Check it out below: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Alan Davidson Foundation renews funding for ground-breaking motor neuron disease research at Oxford As part of its renewed commitment, the Alan Davidson Foundation will continue to fund a full-time project manager to facilitate the ongoing coordination and growth of the ACORN study. The foundation i...

Ahead of #GlobalMNDAwarenessDay tomorrow, we're pleased to announce that The Alan Davidson Foundation has renewed its generous commitment to motor neuron disease (MND) research at Oxford by supporting the ACORN study for a further three years.

Read more: tinyurl.com/4x5jnb5v

Great talk by Beatrix from the group on targeted long-read sequencing of the C9orf72 HRE at the ARUK Thames Valley Network Research Day in Oxford today #ALS #FTD

Extracellular vesicles in TDP-43 proteinopathies: pathogenesis and biomarker potential - Molecular Neurodegeneration Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-enclosed nanoparticles released by most cell types, and from multiple sub-cellular compartments. They carry a range of cargo biomolecules, including protein a...

New review led by Lizzie @lizziedellar.bsky.social from the group on the role of extracellular vesicles in the pathogenesis of TDP-43 proteinopathies and their potential as biomarkers. Check it out below: molecularneurodegeneration.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Penetrance and pleiotropy in ATXN2-related amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - European Journal of Human Genetics European Journal of Human Genetics - Penetrance and pleiotropy in ATXN2-related amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Thoughts and reflections from Andrew Douglas on the complexity of #ATXN2 in #ALS in a commentary on a recent article about penetrance and pleiotropy in ATXN2-related ALS

www.nature.com/articles/s41431-025-01882-1

Congratulations to Björn @bvahsen.bsky.social for winning the Young Investigator Award at #ENCALS2025 for his work on #microglia in #ALS/#MND!🌟

Congratulations to Michael for winning a rapid fire presentation award at #ENCALS2025 last week for his talk on "Divergence of cortical neurophysiology in ALS and other neurodegenerative disorders from healthy ageing". 🌟

Final day at #ENCALS2025: watch out for Björn's @bvahsen.bsky.social talk this afternoon!

Also watch out for Michael’s rapid fire talk in the morning session!

Looking forward to day 2 of #ENCALS2025. Check below for posters from our team this evening!

Join the Hallegger Lab in Oxford! A post-doc position available to develop neuronal cell models to characterise how TDP-43 aggregation leads to its dysfunction in MND.
Highly collaborative project funded by My Name'5 Doddie Foundation
@MNDoddie5
Please repost and share widely!

And one more poster at #ENCALS2025 - make sure to check out Alicia's poster later today!

We are excited to be here in Turin for #ENCALS2025! Come and check out our posters later today - see below for our presenters and poster numbers #MND #ALS

Excellent talk by Lizzie @lizziedellar.bsky.social on UCHL1 in asymptomatic C9orf72 HRE carriers at the FTD UK meeting in Edinburgh last week #ALS #FTD

Progression and life expectancy in primary lateral sclerosis Objectives To characterise the clinical characteristics and longitudinal outcomes in primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), including median survival from symptom onset and age at death. Methods The author...

New analysis on #PLS led by David. Diagnosis of #PLS shown to be compatible with near-normal life expectancy. Research to find better treatments is increasing globally.
jnnp.bmj.com/content/earl...

Postdoc Research Associate at University of Oxford Discover Postdoc Research Associate jobs and more in higher education on jobs.ac.uk. Apply for further details on the top job board.

🚨Come and join us! Postdoc position here at
@mndoxford.bsky.social @ndcnoxford.bsky.social, working on local subcellular dysfunction in synapses of neurons from #ALS/#FTD patients using multi-omics with @ruxandradaf.bsky.social. Check out the details below: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMV265/p...

Asymmetry in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: clinical, neuroimaging and histological observations Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is marked by significant phenotypic heterogeneity. By examining clinical, neuroimaging, and postmortem histopathologica

New review from Katie and the team assessing the clinical, neuroimaging and histological evidence for asymmetry in #ALS. Check it out below: academic.oup.com/brain/advanc...