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Contact Details

Phone
64 3 378 6075
Email
toni.pitcher@nzbri.org
Position
Senior Research Fellow
Department
Department of Medicine (Christchurch)
Qualifications
BSc(Hons) PhD(Otago)
Research summary
Parkinson's disease

Research

I am involved in a number of projects relating to Parkinson’s and dementia. Within the Institute’s longitudinal Parkinson’s cohort, I co-ordinate the collection, storage, and use of biological samples (blood and urine). These samples are used in conjunction with collaborators (local, national, and international) to help further our understanding of biological pathways involved in the disease processes through the investigation of genetic and epigenetic factors, and the investigation of blood proteins levels as potential markers of the disease.

I lead an epidemiology project, providing much needed information about the number of people in New Zealand living with Parkinson’s. We continue to use the national health datasets to further our understanding of the number of people with Parkinson’s dementia, mortality within this patient group, and regional variation in the numbers with the disease. I am also part of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society’s Epidemiology Study Group.

Publications

Shawa, Z., Shand, C., Taylor, B., Berendse, H. W., Vriend, C., van Balkom, T. D., … Melzer, T. R., Pitcher, T. L., Dalrymple-Alford, J. C., Anderson, T. J., … Oxtoby, N. P. (2025). Neuroimaging-based data-driven subtypes of spatiotemporal atrophy due to Parkinson's disease. Brain Communications, 7, fcaf146. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcaf146 Journal - Research Article

Foulds, J. A., Cunningham, R., Pitcher, T. L., Frampton, C., Kinner, S. A., & Beaglehole, B. (2025). Clinical features and mortality outcomes of people transferred from prison to forensic mental health units: A nationwide 14-year retrospective cohort study. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s00127-025-02893-5 Journal - Research Article

Le Heron, C., Horne, K.-L., MacAskill, M. R., Livingston, L., Melzer, T., Myall, D., Pitcher, T. L., Dalrymple-Alford, J., Anderson, T., & Harrison, S. J. (2025). Author response: Cross-sectional and longitudinal association of clinical and neurocognitive factors with apathy in patients with Parkinson disease. Neurology, 104(5), e209958. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000209958 Journal - Research Other

Melzer, T. R., Aye, W. W. T., Keenan, R. J., Livingston, L., Nolan, R., Grenfell, S., Horne, K.-L., Myall, D. J., Pitcher, T. L., Le Heron, C., Dalrymple-Alford, J. C., & Anderson, T. J. (2024). Tau PET in Parkinson’s disease: Interim findings. In K.-L. Horne (Ed.), Proceedings of the 40th International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research (AWCBR). (pp. 62). Retrieved from https://www.awcbr.org Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Horne, K.-L., Myall, D., Harrison, S., Holden, A., Slater, N. M., Melzer, T., Pitcher, T., Dalrymple-Alford, J., Anderson, T., & Le Heron, C. (2024). Longitudinal trajectories and predictors of visual hallucinations in the New Zealand Parkinson’s Progression Programme. In K.-L. Horne (Ed.), Proceedings of the 40th International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research (AWCBR). (pp. 52). Retrieved from https://www.awcbr.org Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

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