The Edinburgh Parkinson’s Lecture is a flagship event for the Parkinson’s community to hear about progress in the fight against the disease

Edinburgh Parkinson's Lecture 2026

Power failure in the Brain: the mitochondrial basis of Parkinson’s Disease

This year’s Edinburgh Parkinson’s Lecture will take place in the evening of Tuesday 22nd September before a live audience at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The Lecture will also be streamed live to our online audience.

The 2026 Edinburgh Parkinson’s Lecturer is Prof Miratul Muqit (pictured below).

Prof Miratul Muqit is the inaugural Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute Parkinson’s Research Centre, based at the University of Edinburgh. He holds a dual appointment as Professor of Experimental Neurology and Consultant Neurologist at the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit in Dundee. He is also an Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s Co-Investigator and a SPARK NS Investigator. He studied Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University before completing a PhD at University College London. His research group is world-renowned for making fundamental discoveries of how mutations in two genes - PINK1 and PRKN - lead to the accumulation of damaged mitochondria in brain cells. This has contributed to the development of targeted therapies designed to remove damaged mitochondria which have entered Phase 1 clinical trials for Parkinson’s patients. He has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Programme

6:00pm - Doors open

6:15pm - Reception

7:10pm – Welcome and Introduction Dr Claire Bale, Associate Director of Research Parkinson's UK

7:15pm – Lecture Prof Miratul Muqit, Universities of Dundee and Edinburgh: Power failure in the Brain - the mitochondrial basis of Parkinson’s Disease

8:05pm – Combined Question and Answer Session for the LIVE and ONLINE audiences, Prof Tilo Kunath, University of Edinburgh

8:35pm – Closing Remarks Brendan Hawdon, Chairperson Dundee Parkinson's Research Interest Group

8:40pm - Vote of Thanks Prof David Melton, Edinburgh Branch Parkinson’s UK

8:45pm - Close

Description supplied by the event organiser.