November 5, 2019

Visit to a Dystonia Research Lab

Prof Rose Goodchild is one of the members of the Dystonia Europe Medical and Scientific Advisory Board and she had invited me to her LAB at the VIB KU Leuven, Center for Brain Research in Leuven, Belgium.

Since 2011 she has been leading a dystonia research group here. The 5-year project was funded by FDR (Foundation for Dystonia Research) together with Belgian public funding. The project was renewed in 2016 for another 5 year, until 2021.

Rose got involved in dystonia research at Columbia University in New York. Most dystonia research that takes place is done in the US. She thinks there should be more meetings organized for basic researchers so they can share their research with each other and discuss and network.

In Mid November Rose travels to Florida to take part in the Tyler’s Hope Think Tank.

This is purely a research meeting with participating researchers sharing their findings in their latest research. What if we could organize a similar meeting in Leuven? Maybe every other year? To stimulate basic research in the field of dystonia, to inspire young researchers to join the exciting field of dystonia, to try and attract funding for dystonia research.

Monika Benson, Executive Director, Dystonia Europe

Prof Rose Goodchild