Fellow

Miratul Muqit, Professor of Experimental Neurology at the University of Dundee, is a Clinician Scientist who has significantly advanced understanding of the mechanism by which mutations in the PINK1 and Parkin genes cause Parkinson’s disease. His mechanistic studies have contributed to general understanding to how Parkin stimulates the removal of damaged mitochondria from cells by mitophagy. He has also identified the first patients harbouring point mutations in the Parkin gene that disrupt PINK1-dependent phosphorylation, thereby confirming the relevance of this cell signalling pathway to Parkinson’s disease. He is now translating these studies to the clinic and is involved in several projects to screen and develop drugs that can activate PINK1 that may have therapeutic benefit in Parkinson’s.