Professor Susan Lindquist delivered the third lecture of the King’s International Lecture Series to a packed auditorium at King’s College London on Monday 23 January. She spoke about how her pioneering work involving yeast cells has revealed the underlying biology of complex neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Diseases like Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s cause huge devastation to people’s lives and with today’s ageing population, the public health cost of treating these diseases is mounting. In light of this, research into the causes of neurodegenerative diseases and the development of therapeutic treatments is timely.

In her lecture, ‘Can simple cells model complex neurodegenerative diseases?’, Professor Lindquist spoke about her research using yeast cells to recreate protein folding and trafficking within nerve cells. The misfolding of proteins within neurons has been implicated as the key cause of many severe neurological diseases.

Not only has her research using yeast provided a model to identify proteins which cause neurodegenerative diseases, it has also identified proteins which may act to suppress them. Professor Lindquist stressed that research into these diseases is enormously complex and that this research is only the tip of the iceberg.

Professor Robert Lechler, Executive Director of King’s Health Partners, said:

“Professor Lindquist is a pioneer in her field and we are privileged to welcome her and other eminent scientists to speak as part of the King’s International Lecture Series. Professor Lindquist’s research has developed our understanding of the fundamental biology behind neurological disease. In future years, I hope her research findings will be translated into therapeutic treatments for patients with these debilitating diseases.

“This lecture is dedicated to Rosalind Franklin, who is known for her work at King’s College which led to the discovery of the DNA double helix. We are delighted to welcome members of Rosalind Franklin’s family to this lecture.”

Professor Lindquist is a Whitehead Member and Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In October 2010, President Barack Obama named Professor Lindquist a recipient of the National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honour in the United States.  Read more about her work on the MIT website.

The fourth King’s International Lecture will take place on Tuesday 21 February. Professor Mark Musen from Stanford University will speak on ‘Becoming a meta-physician: better clinical information in the future of healthcare.’  For more details and information on the whole series please click here.