The 9th Donald Calne Lectureship awarded to Dr. Matthew Farrer
Vancouver, October 2012

Parkinson Society Canada is pleased to announce that the recipient of this year’s Donald Calne Lectureship is Dr. Matthew Farrer, Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics and Director of the Centre for Applied Neurogenetics in the Brain Research Centre at University of British Columbia (UBC).

Dr. Farrer receives this honour for his work as an ambitious researcher who has made influential discoveries in neurogenetics and who has 271 peer-reviewed publications to his credit. He is internationally renowned for his work on the genetics of Parkinson’s disease and his contribution to the field of Parkinson’s research. Dr. Farrer is Canada Excellence Research Chair in Neurogenetics and Translational Neuroscience and the Dr. Donald Rix B.C. Leadership Chair in Genetic Medicine at UBC.

Dr. Farrer’s lecture is titled, Parkinson’s Progress: from Molecular Genetics to Medications. Click on the video below to view presentation.

Dr. Farrer has established a Centre for Applied Neurogenetics (www.can.ubc.ca) at UBC, where he and his colleagues are working to pioneer new strategies for early detection and improved treatments for neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s, Lewy body dementia and related movement and memory disorders.

Dr. Farrer holds a PhD in human genetics from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School, Imperial College, London, UK, and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from King’s College, London, UK. He was also a post-doctoral fellow in medical and community genetics at the Kennedy-Galton Centre of Medical and Community Genetics, St. Mark’s Hospital, Harrow, UK. In 2011, Dr. Farrer was recently appointed to the Parkinson Canada Scientific Advisory Board, whose mandate is to provide a thorough and unbiased assessment of grant requests for research or fellowship funds submitted to Parkinson Canada.