Journal of IiME Volume 8 Issue 1 Professor Angela Vincent Emeritus Professor of Neuroimmunology, University of Oxford Professor Vincent is Emeritus Professor of Neuroimmunology at the University of Oxford, and an Emeritus Fellow of Somerville College. She holds an Honorary Consultant position in Immunology and runs the Clinical Neuroimmunology service which is an international referral centre for the measurement of antibodies in neurological diseases. Together with colleagues she collaborates with neurologists worldwide. She was formerly Head of Department of Clinical Neurology (2005-2008), and is a Past President of the International Society of Neuroimmunology, and an Associate Editor of Brain. She was a co-applicant and group leader of OXION, the Wellcome Trust-funded Integrative Physiology Initiative "Ion channels and Diseases of Electrically Excitable Cells". She is a member of Faculty of 1000 (Neuroscience, Neurobiology of Disease and Regeneration) Her major interest is in the role of autoimmunity in neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis and auto-antibody mediated ion channel and receptor disorders. Recent advances have included (a) the discovery that maternal antibodies to different fetal proteins can cause rare neuromuscular disorders, and may be involved in some forms of autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders; (b) the definition and characterisation of a new form of myasthenia gravis associated with antibodies to a receptor tyrosine kinase, MuSK, that performs an important maintenance role at the neuromuscular junction; and (c) the recognition that some central nervous system disorders, involving memory loss, seizures, movement disorders, can be caused by antibodies to potassium ion channels and to various receptor proteins. In these, and several other conditions, new ways are being devised to measure the pathogenic May 2014 antibodies for better clinical diagnosis, and establishing model in vitro and in vivo systems for investigation of the pathophysiology of the diseases. Her group also works, in collaboration with Profs David Beeson and Nick Willcox, on the genetics of myasthenia and the factors that determine autoimmune responses to the main target, the acetylcholine receptor. More information - http://www.clneuro.ox.ac.uk/team/principalinvestigators/angela-vincent #IIMEC9 - Autoantibodies in different forms of neurological disease: relevance for ME? Autoantibodies to a variety of receptors and ion channels on cells of the nervous system can be identified in children and adults with newly acquired neurological diseases. Most of the patients have classical features of myasthenia gravis or central nervous system diseases including loss of memory, seizures, confusion or bizarre movements. The diseases improve with immunotherapies that reduce the levels of the “pathogenic” antibodies. The field is still developing and some antibodies are now being detected in patients with other conditions including first episode psychosis, unexplained epilepsy, sleep disorders or pain. But the relevance of the antibodies in these disorders is not yet established and some findings may be entirely incidental. Invest in ME (Charity Nr. 1114035) www.investinme.org Page 40 of 52
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