The Barker / Williams-Gray Lab

04/06/2026

Roger and Claire Henchcliffe discuss the development, goals, and educational value of International Society for Stem Cell Research's new stem cell medicine course for Parkinson disease!

Now live:

Neurologists Roger Barker, MBBS, MRCP, PhD, FMedSci, and Claire Henchcliffe, MD, DPhil, discuss the development, goals, and educational value of ISSCR's new stem cell medicine course for Parkinson disease.

29/05/2026

Really pleased that our partnership with London South Bank University has helped us host 4 fantastic students for work experience placements in Roger’s group over the last two years.

Even better — 2 of those students have now gone on to fully funded PhDs 🎉

Both were also the first in their families to go to university, and both said their time in Cambridge really helped build their confidence and shaped what they wanted to do next. We are very proud of their achievements.

Big thanks to Alison Alvarez for all her help in making this happen!

28/05/2026

Our report on the OXB-102/Axo-Lenti-PD trial had now been published in the Movement Disorders Journal 🎉

Thank you to all who contributed to the study and write up, and especially to the participants involved!

Observations on an Open-Label Phase 1/2 Dopamine Gene Therapy Trial (OXB-102/Axo-Lenti-PD) in People with Parkinson's Disease
https://movementdisorders.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mds.70378

28/05/2026

Beyond the “Breakthrough”
“I don’t think we need a cure. If you can slow it down by 50 percent and pick people up early on, you’ve probably done it.”

A thoughtful new article from The Initiative Magazine explores Roger's work, perspective, and the future of Parkinson’s research beyond the headlines and hype.

Have a read below 👇

“I don’t think we need a cure,” neuroscientist Roger Barker said. “If you can slow it down by 50 percent and pick people up early on, you’ve probably done it.”

27/05/2026

Huge congratulations to Roger on receiving two 2026 Editor of Distinction Awards from Springer Nature 🎉
Roger was recognised with both the Editorial Contribution Award 2026 and the Author Service Award 2026, highlighting his dedication to authors, excellence in peer review, and commitment to advancing discovery.
A fantastic and well-deserved achievement!

27/05/2026

Roger attended the departmental PI retreat on Thursday 21st May at Madingley hall in Cambridge. Great day was had by all as the department gels in its work and ambitions!

26/05/2026

A fantastic start to the 7th World Parkinson Congress in Phoenix, Arizona🌵☀️
A special moment seeing Roger open as President of the WPC — and marking what will be his final duty in the role!
We’re also very proud of our PhD student James Shonhard, who presented his poster at the congress this week 👏
Looking forward to more great conversations, science, and collaboration over the next few days

26/05/2026

Roger and Katie held a dissemination event last Tuesday 19th May for our FELL HD participants to present the results of the trial. The event was well received with some great questions! Thank you to all those who attended 👏

We plan to send out a paper summary to all those who could not attend and will be publishing the results publicly later this year, results will also be included in our 2026 annual newsletter.

19/05/2026

Great day at Cambridge Dementia Research Day on 28 April — really inspiring to see so many people in one room thinking about how we can move dementia research forward.

Zanna Voysey spoke about “can we leverage sleep to prevent dementia?” and Roger did a brilliant patient-facing interview that really brought the human side of the research into focus!

18/05/2026

Great to be in Edinburgh for the 39th EFI/BSHI Conference 2026!
Roger gave a plenary lecture on dopamine cell therapies in Parkinson’s disease as part of the conference theme, “From Genes to Grafts: Where Innovation Meets Medicine.”
More about the conference here: https://efi-conference.org/