Untangling Neurodegeneration - inaugural lecture from Professor Nigel Leigh
Published 12 September 2012
Event 17 October 2012
Motor neuron disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS), is a neurodegenerative disorder characterised by progressive loss of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The founding fathers of clinical neurology could only speculate about cellular and molecular mechanisms. Today, an immense range of information about this and many other neurological diseases has changed the way we think about both care and cure.
Professor Leigh will present motor neurone disease, and a few other rather rare neurodegenerative disorders, as the focus for stories about ideas and individuals who have changed the way physicians think, and thus the way they act, in caring for people with neurodegenerative diseases. Neuroprotection may currently remain more a hope than a reality in treatment of many neurodegenerative diseases, but the transformation of care over the last two decades that has made life a little easier to enjoy or to endure cannot be ignored. Being a doctor is much more about care than cure, for the time being at least.
Better care for patients has made a difference to their survival and quality of life. This advance demands no more than the qualities at the core of the medical training and practice in BSMS and its partner Trusts. Molecular wizardry is still essential, but we must ensure that our doctors value humanity first and foremost. Translational neurology – indeed clinical science as a whole- is not just about transforming molecular insights into clinical practice ('bench to clinic and back again'), but about improving care for our patients.
Untangling Neurodegeneration: Partnerships for care and cure
Nigel Leigh
Professor of Neurology, Brighton and Sussex Medical School
Wednesday 17 October 2012 at 6.30pm
Chowen Lecture Theatre
Brighton and Sussex Medical School
University of Sussex campus
Falmer
Brighton BN1 9PX
Light refreshments will be served after the lecture. All welcome.
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