The Barker / Williams-Gray Lab

06/01/2026

We are delighted to announce the publication of the STEM-PD trial protocol: a multi-centre, single-arm, first-in-human, dose-escalation trial, investigating the safety and tolerability of intraputamenal transplantation of human embryonic stem cell-derived dopaminergic cells for Parkinson’s disease 🎉
See the trial protocol here: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/12/e107597.full

05/01/2026

Roger is talking at the Parkinson's UK Royston and District Parkinson’s Group New Year Seminar next Monday 12th January 2026! The day will be 10am to 3pm with presentations by Roger, John Moylneux and Linda Bance. See details attached!

22/12/2025

Many of us were at this magnificent concert by Serenata Female Voice in Trinity college chapel on the 21st December which was raising awareness and money for Parkinson's UK. A special shout out for Florence and Jamie who helped with it!

17/12/2025

Last Friday our group went to The Green Man in Trumpington for a lovely Christmas meal!🎄🎉

16/12/2025

On Tuesday 2nd December Roger undertook the last of the Research Spotlight series with the World Parkinson Coalition, this time chatting to Dr David Standaert and Dr Karen L. Eskow Jaunarajs about Levodopa-induced dyskinesia's and Parkinson's.
Watch the video of the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUqFvHz8yuE
The research spotlight series involves interviews with six outstanding scientists from four countries to talk about a wide range of exciting research. If you are interested then go to the website and have a listen: www.worldpdcoalition.org/page/WPCResearchSpotlight2025

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

16/12/2025

Our group attended the Department of Clinical Neurosciences Cambridge Away day on Monday 15th December. Well done Sophie and Angelica for such great presentations and posters at the Away Day! And special congratulations to Angelica for winning 2nd prize for her poster 🎉

15/12/2025

Tom Clowes is rowing the Atlantic for Cure Parkinson's. He and 3 other friends are doing the Talisker Rowing Challenge (The Toughest Rowing Race in the World). Rowing the Atlantic Ocean, 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands to Antigua!
See the full story below & on his page or support the challenge here:

Help Thomas Clowes raise money to support Cure Parkinson’s

10/12/2025

Stem Cells and Parkinson’s: How Close Are We?
On Monday 8th December Roger presented a live webinar with No Silver Bullet 4PD. In this session Roger separates hope from hype, guiding us through the history and future of repairing the brain in Parkinson’s. He discusses the shift from fetal cell transplants to the cutting-edge stem cell trials now underway and provides a realistic outlook on their potential to restore dopamine and reduce medication.
Interested in listening, watch the webinar recording here:

Is it possible to repair the brain in Parkinson's disease? In this special webinar, we are joined by Professor Roger Barker from the University of Cambridge ...

09/12/2025

Check out these images created by our PhD student Jana! These are neurons extracted from brain tissue from surgery at Addenbrooke's hospital. She cultured the sample for 2 weeks and they have regrown neurites. Neurites are the long thin extension / projection of a neuron that allows communication.

In the first photo there are three projections from the cell body of the neuron, and in the second & third photo you can see two projections. The green colour highlights the neuron (TUJ1 protein) and the blue colour highlights DNA (DAPI).

05/12/2025

'Is it time to target inflammation in Huntington’s disease?'

Save the date for EHDN's next platform meeting: Friday 30 January 2026, 13:30-15:00 CET!

Roger will be presenting, as well as Dr Niels Skotte then an expert panel discussion, chaired by Prof. Maria Björkqvist.

All are very welcome to attend and ask questions!

Register here:

Evidence supports inflammation playing a role in Huntington's disease pathogenesis. The mutant huntingtin protein disrupts immune cell function, centrally and peripherally. Long before symptom onset, activated microglia and astrocytes can be detected and levels of pro-inflammatory molecules like IL-...

04/12/2025

Congratulations to our PhD student Jana for winning the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute Seed Funding Scheme 2026 🎉 The project is titled 'expanding multiplexing capabilities of confocal imaging systems using average arrival time-gating acquisition and unmixing'. We wish you all the best with the work and look forward to seeing it develop!!

04/12/2025

I’m happy to share that the preprint for “Phosphoproteomic profiling reveals post-translational dysregulation in Huntington’s disease patient-derived neurons,” is now live on Biorxiv.
Thank you to all involved for the incredible teamwork and contributions in this paper, a collaborative effort!