Red X iconGreen tick iconYellow tick icon
The University of Otago has launched a new brand. Find out more

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

Kim, J. J., Vitale, D., Otani, D. V., Lian, M. M., Heilbron, K., the 23andMe Research Team, … the Global Parkinson's Genetic Program (GP2), including Anderson, T. J., Pitcher, T. L., … Mata, I. (2024). Multi-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of Parkinson’s disease. Nature Genetics, 56, 27-36. doi: 10.1038/s41588-023-01584-8 Journal - Research Article

Kerestes, R., Laansma, M. A., Owens-Walton, C., Perry, A., van Heese, E. M., Al-Bachari, S., Anderson, T. J., … Dalrymple-Alford, J. C., … Melzer, T. R., … Pitcher, T. L., … and the ENIGMA-Parkinson's Study. (2023). Cerebellar volume and disease staging in Parkinson's disease: An ENIGMA-PD study. Movement Disorders. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1002/mds.29611 Journal - Research Article

Towns, C., Richer, M., Jasaityte, S., Stafford, E. J., Joubert, J., Antar, T., … and the the Global Parkinson's Genetic Program (GP2), including Anderson, T. J., & Pitcher, T. L. (2023). Defining the causes of sporadic Parkinson’s disease in the global Parkinson’s genetics program (GP2) [Brief communication]. npj Parkinson's Disease, 9, 131. doi: 10.1038/s41531-023-00533-w Journal - Research Other

Lange, L. M., Avenali, M., Ellis, M., Illarionova, A., Keller Sarmiento, I. J., Tan, A.-H., … the Global Parkinson's Genetic Program (GP2), including Anderson, T. J., & Pitcher, T. L. (2023). Elucidating causative gene variants in hereditary Parkinson’s disease in the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2) [Brief communication]. npj Parkinson's Disease, 9, 100. doi: 10.1038/s41531-023-00526-9 Journal - Research Other

Ganderton, J., Pitcher, T., Melzer, T., Philips, S., Harris, A., Dobson, R., Anderson, T., … Dalrymple-Alford, J. (2023). Reflex tears to target alpha-synuclein in Parkinson's disease. In K.-L. Horne (Ed.), Proceedings of the 39th International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research (AWCBR). (pp. 51). Retrieved from https://www.awcbr.org Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Back to top