Neuroinflammation in Huntington's Disease
In Huntington’s disease, the immune system of the brain is constantly trying to attack and remove the mutant huntingtin protein. But over time, this immune response called neuroinflammation can also become toxic to healthy brain cells!
Understanding and measuring neuroinflammation will help us to work out how much this immune response contributes to the progression of HD, and how we may be able to stop it.
How am I investigating inflammation?
This project uses combined Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) brain scanning, as well as blood tests and genetic analysis.
What will we learn from this research?
Your participation will contribute to our growing understanding of how the brain changes in HD, including new insights into how we may be able to track or treat this disorder in the future.
This study is not currently recruiting participants.
Ethics Approval: Monash University Research Ethics Committee (MUHREC) 2017-7810.
Researcher Profile
Ian Harding
Research Fellow at the Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences
Monash University
How to contact Ian:
Email: ian.harding@monash.edu
Phone: 9905 9283
Address:770 Blackburn Road
Monash Biomedical Imaging
Clayton, Vic 3800
About Ian:
I am a neuroscientist who uses neuroimaging – including Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning – to understand the development and progression of neurological disorders, including HD and cerebellar ataxia.
I am particularly interested in understanding how and why brain diseases spread from one area of the brain to another. This knowledge will be important for slowing (or stopping!) disease spread in the future.
Organisation
I work at the Monash Biomedical Imaging facility, which is part of the Monash Institute of Cognitive & Clinical Neurosciences