International research collaboration clinches top prize at prestigious Cambridge conference

An international research collaboration between the University of Wolverhampton and the University of Milan has won a poster competition, held as part of the Syn2025 conference held at the University of Cambridge.

The conference, themed ‘Facing the Complexity of Synucleinopathies’, brought together global leaders in Parkinson’s Disease and neurodegenerative research, and featured discussions on crucial topics such as Parkinson's Disease and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), prodromal synucleinopathies, the genetic complexity of Parkinson's Disease, and clinical-imaging subtypes.

The winning project, a joint effort between the University of Wolverhampton, the University of Milan, and local biotech partner iBiotech LTD, earned first place in the conference’s competitive poster session. The research, led by final-year PhD student Claudia Novello (University of Milan), under the supervision of Professor Graziella Cappelletti, explores the mechanisms of Parkinson’s Disease using advanced human tissue cell models.

Claudia Novello has recently completed a six-month placement at the University of Wolverhampton contributing the University’s research into the disease, contributing significantly to our understanding of potential new treatment. Read more about Claudia’s placement here.

A significant portion of the research was conducted at the University of Wolverhampton’s Rosalind Franklin Building, under the guidance of Dr Hafid Omar, Professor Iza Radecka, and Dr Mark Morris, with additional support from Dr Brian Johnston and Professor Sabbir Ahmed of the School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences.

Dr Johnston,  Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Microbiology at the University of Wolverhampton, remarked: "The success of Professor Cappelletti's group from Milan, the University of Wolverhampton, and the industrial partner iBiotech at such a prestigious conference is a huge boost for this project and highlights the potential of international collaboration."

The Syn2025 conference featured renowned experts including Professor Maria Grazia Spillantini (University of Cambridge), Dr Ashley S. Harms (University of Alabama at Birmingham), Dr Michele Hu and Professor George Tofaris (University of Oxford), and Dr Claudio Soto (University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston), all of whom are at the forefront of Parkinson’s and neurodegenerative disease research.

Looking ahead, Dr Johnston and Dr Ibrahim Alsabih (School of Pharmacy) will continue advancing the project, focusing on polymer-protein interactions, an area with promising implications for future treatments of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

Adding to this success, a paper covering some of Claudia Novello’s research findings, co-authored with the University of Wolverhampton, has now been published in a high impact factor journal, listing both UoW and iBiotech as collaborators, read the paper here.

Anyone interested in studying for courses at the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Wolverhampton should register for one of our forthcoming Open Days.