Prof Michael Kassiou, The University of Sydney 
Thursday 29th September – 1.00pm to 2.00pm
Building 302:001:LT

“Neuroinflammatory Targets in CNS Drug Discovery”
Irrespective of the phenotype, e.g. Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD) or schizophrenia, the most consistent finding in brain diseases is pronounced changes in the functional state of microglia – the cells responsible for immune defence in the CNS. The translocator protein (TSPO) and the purinergic P2X7 receptor are overexpressed in microglia and are known to modulate their function. Targeting these proteins through the discovery of novel molecules and PET imaging promises to provide a new strategy for treatment of brain disease.