Researchers at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and the nearby Royal Free are part of a group based at UCL who have been awarded £5.3 million over five years to investigate the causes of Parkinson’s disease.

The funding from the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council has been awarded to a research team which brings together leading experts in brain disease from the Royal Free and the UCL Institute of Neurology, as well as involving groups from University of Dundee and University of Sheffield.

It is the biggest grant ever awarded for research into Parkinson’s in the UK.

Parkinson’s, a progressive neurological condition, affects movement such as walking, writing and talking. More than 100,000 people in the UK have the condition. With an ageing population, this figure will increase as Parkinson’s normally affects the over-50s.

The novel research will investigate the very earliest stages of Parkinson’s to achieve a much greater understanding of the genes involved and to develop markers of early disease.

Patients from National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square and the Royal Free, will be recruited for the research which starts in March next year. It is being led by Professors John Hardy, Anthony Schapira and Nicholas Wood at UCL, Royal Free Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, part of UCLH.

Professor Nicholas Wood, principal investigator of the project, said: "This is a wonderful opportunity for researchers from UCLH, UCL and the Royal Free to work collaboratively to find out more about this debilitating condition. It's the first time that a research project has been designed to systematically use basic science to investigate people at risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. It is hoped that by addressing the earliest phase of the disease, opportunities for disease modification will be greatest."

Prof Schapira said: "This project brings together a unique consortium of experts in the UK to work together for the first time on understanding the causes of Parkinson’s disease.

"It’s a fantastic opportunity to bring new ideas and techniques to bear on the disease and to try to understand how the brain cells are damaged in this disorder.

"This type of research has the best chance of leading to treatments that may slow down the progression of Parkinson’s. The more we understand about the disease, the better equipped we will be to develop drugs to slow it down."

The grant was one of three awarded by the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council for research into neurodegenerative disease out of 40 applications.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological condition that affects movement, leading to tremors and muscle rigidity. It is the result of a loss of nerve cells that produce the brain chemical dopamine, which is involved in movement. The condition affects one in 500 people – about 120,000 – in the UK and about 10,000 people in the UK are diagnosed each year. Symptoms usually appear when a person is over 50.