SIMOA technology has facilitated the quantification of neurofilament light (NfL), a brain-derived protein, in blood. It is released into CSF and blood after neuronal damage and is increased in several neurodegenerative diseases. In this seminar, we will discuss the particularly striking results from our recent study of NfL in Huntington’s disease and why we think it has real potential to change the course of therapeutic development in HD and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the clinical features and genetic basis of Huntington’s disease
• Review progress in therapeutic for Huntington’s disease and the need for meaningful biomarkers
• Introduce NfL and the results from our recently published study of plasma NfL as a prognostic marker for HD
• Consider next steps and how this development may assist in therapeutic development in HD and beyond

Watch on YouTube

Speakers:

Webinar introduction was led by Quanterix CEO Kevin Hrusovsky, and Q&A session was moderated by Andreas Jeromin , Ph.D., Quanterix Consulting Neurologsit

Dr. Edward Wild, MD, Ph.D.
MRC Clinician Scientist
UCL Institute of Neurology

Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London’s Queen Square, running clinics in general neurology, neurogenetic movement disorders and Huntington’s disease. MRC Clinician Scientist at UCL Institute of Neurology, and a Principal Investigator at UCL Huntington’s Disease Centre. His clinical research aims to accelerate the development of new therapies to make a real difference for people impacted by Huntington’s disease. He has authored 6 book chapters and over 50 peer-reviewed publications. He serves on the medical advisory panel of the Huntington’s Disease Association, the Editorial Boards of Journal of Huntington’s Disease and PLoS Currents: Huntington’s Disease and the steering committee to the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Huntington’s disease. He is the Lead Facilitator of the European Huntington’s Disease Network‘s Biomarkers Working Group and an emeritus member of the Network’s Scientific and Bioethical Advisory Committee.

Lauren Byrne, MRes

Research Assistant for HD-CSF and Part-time PhD student
Huntington’s Disease Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology

Lauren is a research assistant and PhD student to Dr Ed Wild for the HD-CSF study. She studied Biology at Imperial College London, graduating in 2014 and completed her masters in 2015 on Translational Neurology at UCL Institute of Neurology. She is working on developing biofluid biomarkers that can be used to track disease onset and progression in blood and CSF of patients with HD. Her most recent work on a blood test known as neurofilament light (NFL) was recently published in the prestigious journal Lancet Neurology.