‘Inspirational’ Andrew scaled heights for Parkinson’s research

An 11-year-old Fife schoolboy who was inspired to climb a mountain after his mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s has visited the University of Dundee to witness the leading-edge research his efforts are helping to fund.

Andrew Hornyak set himself a target of raising £300 to help Parkinson’s sufferers after his mother Lynda told him she had the disease. After deciding to ‘bag’ a Munro in order to raise money he set up a JustGiving page and was almost immediately inundated with pledges of support.By the time Andrew had climbed Ben Chonzie near Crieff on April 26^th, he had exceeded his target by more than 700 per cent, raising a total of £2200 for the Parkinson’s UK charity.

On June 26^th Andrew met with scientists from the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, who are carrying out research that may one day lead to a cure for Parkinson’s. He was accompanied by Lynda, his sister Rebecca and grandfather Robert Clark, who also suffers from the disease, for the Parkinson’s Open Day event, which took place as part of the celebrations to mark the 100^th anniversary of the Medical Research Council (MRC).

“I’m hoping to help all people with Parkinson’s so that they can just go to the doctor to get medicine that makes them better right away,” said Andrew, who climbed the Munro along with five friends from Strathmiglo Primary School and adult instructors.

“Originally I set myself a goal of £300 because that was 10% of the 3000ft I walked up. It was the first Munro I walked and we helped each other make it to the top where I slid on snow like Superman and touched the clouds. I was delighted to raise so much money. It was a really big surprise when I came home and saw how much people had given.”

A scientist at the Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit (MRC-PPU) who met Andrew has received almost £1.9M to investigate the causes of Parkinson’s disease.

Dr Miratul Muqit has been awarded a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship in Clinical Science to undertake research over the next 5 years that may lead to new ideas on how to diagnose and treat the disorder. Parkinson’s is an increasingly common disorder that leads to progressive brain degeneration.

Dr Muqit, a Programme Leader at the MRC Unit and Consultant Neurologist at Ninewells Hospital, said, “Coming up with treatments for Parkinson’s has been a major challenge largely due to a lack of understanding on the causes of the disease. Recent genetic breakthroughs have now given us a roadmap on where to start to unravel the disease.”

He will investigate the role of two genes, PINK1 and Parkin, which are mutated in patients with inherited forms of Parkinson’s. These genes act together to remove damaged proteins from cells and this forms an important defence mechanism for the brain.