PRESENTATION
Hi Kevin,
What’s your background? How did you come to work at Clinatec?
From my earliest years, I’ve always wanted to help people. In my teens, this led to training as a firefighter and then, after several years of paramedical training, to a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Nancy Faculty of Pharmacy. Wishing to specialize in neurodegenerative diseases, I obtained a second Master’s degree in Physiology, Neuroscience and Behavior in Besançon, during which I did an internship at the Neuroscience & Cognition laboratory in Lille (Inserm U1172) on the MRI characterization of non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
To continue in this field, I am currently completing a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences on the use of in-vivo and in-vitro models in the development of treatments for synucleinopathies [1]. On the strength of these experiences, I have decided to pursue this path by undertaking a new thesis in Neuroscience at the Fonds Clinatec, in collaboration with the Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience and under the supervision of Dr Brigitte Piallat.
What is the aim of the project you are working on?
The KLESIA SomniBrain project aims to treat sleep disorders in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease using photobiomodulation, a treatment that uses red to near-infrared light.
This project is of particular importance for the quality of life of these patients, as sleep disorders are aggravating factors in neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, the progress made will benefit the general population, offering potential relief for all those suffering from sleep disorders.
What is the main challenge associated with this project? And what advances have been made possible by the sponsorship?
The challenge of this project is to determine the optimal parameters for photobiomodulation in order to assess its impact on wakefulness and sleep phases in pre-clinical models of Parkinson’s disease. The aim is to restore physiological sleep and improve the quality of life of all people suffering from sleep disorders.
Thanks to the financial support of our donors, we are able to develop and implement the photobiomodulation system. This will enable us to advance our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and potential benefits of this new therapeutic approach to the treatment of sleep disorders.
Thanks Kevin!
[1] Synucleinopathies (which include Parkinson’s disease, Lewy body dementia and multisystem atrophy) are a group of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the abnormal accumulation of alpha-synuclein protein aggregates in the brain.
