Dr Gordon Duncan

Consultant Physician & NRS Clinician | NHS Lothian Hon Clinical Senior Lecturer |
Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences | University of Edinburgh

Biography

I am a Consultant Physician and NHS Research Scotland Career Research Fellow. Since 2014, I have worked at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh where I specialise in Medicine for the Elderly and Parkinson’s disease. I am an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. I have a special interest in Parkinson’s Disease and lead clinical research studies and quality improvement projects. I am committed to involving people with Parkinson’s in research and my clinical work very much informs my research activity.

I believe that to develop better treatments we need strong partnerships between patients, NHS clinicians, academia and industry. With colleagues in Scotland, we are growing a translational clinical research programme for Parkinson’s disease and associated neurodegenerative disorders with a view to increasing research capacity and delivery. Currently I am a member of the NIHR Neurodegeneration Studies Group where I represent Scotland on behalf of the CSO Neuroprogressive and Dementia Network (NDN) and the UK Parkinson’s Disease Study Group. After qualifying from Dundee University medical School, I trained as a junior doctor in Dundee, Middlesbrough, New Zealand and Newcastle. It was in Newcastle that my interest in Parkinson’s disease began and I was a Clinical Research Fellow with Prof David Burn at Newcastle University. My PhD thesis focused on the development of MRI as a potential biomarker for the evolution of cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s. I live in Edinburgh with my wife and our daughter and dog.

NDN Project/Studies

Ongoing/In Follow-Up

• Exenatide: Exenatide as a potential disease modifying treatment for Parkinson’s disease.
  (Principal Investigator)
  
  
• CHIeF-PD: Cholinesterase Inhibitors to Prevent Falls in Parkinson’s Disease.
  (Principal Investigator)

Current Project/Grants

Closed to Recruitment/Completed

• Detecting Susceptibility Genes for Dementia with Lewy Bodies. Observational / Genetics Study. UK Multicentre. CI: Dr Rebecca Simms. Sponsor: Cardiff University. Funder: Welsh Government. Role: PI, NHS Lothian.
  
• Stimulation of the Tibial Nerve: A randomised trial for urinary problems associated with Parkinson’s. Non-CTIMP study. UK Multicentre Phase 3. Funder:Parkinson’s UK & Dunhill Trust. CI: Prof Doreen McLurg, Glasgow Caledonian University. Sponsor: Glasgow Caledonian University. Role: PI, NHS Lothian.
  
• PD COMM: A Multi-Centre Randomised Controlled Trial to Compare the Clinical and Cost Effectiveness of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment Versus Standard NHS Speech and Language Therapy Versus Control in Parkinson’s Disease. CI: Prof Catherine Sackley, King’s College, London. Funder: NIHR HTA. Role: PI, NHS Lothian.
  
• Reducing pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease through Angiotensin Targeting (RADAR). CI: Prof PG Kehoe, Eudra CT: 2012-003641-15. NIHR – Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme. Sponsor: North Bristol NHS Trust Research & Innovation (NBT R&I). Role: PI, NHS Lothian.
  
• Improving diagnostic and care pathways in progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. CI: Dr Carl Counsell, University of Aberdeen. CSO / PSP Scotland. Sponsor: University of Aberdeen. Role: PIC co-ordinator.
  
• Leucine and ACE inhibitors as therapies for sarcopenia: a two by two-factorial randomised placebo-controlled trial. Phase II CTIMP (NIHR £1.4 million; EudraCT No: 2014-003455-61; CI: Dr Miles Witham, University of Dundee). Role: PI, NHS Lothian.

Key Publications

• Yarnall AJ, Breen DP, Duncan GW, Khoo TK, Coleman SY, Firbank MJ, Nombela C, Winder-Rhodes S, Evans JR, Rowe JB, Mollenhauer B, Kruse N, Hudson G, Chinnery PF, O’Brien JT, Robbins TW, Wesnes K, Brooks DJ, Barker RA, Burn DJ; ICICLE-PD Study Group. Characterizing mild cognitive impairment in incident Parkinson disease: the ICICLE-PD study. Neurology. 2014;82:308-16. View Publication
• Duncan GW, Khoo TK, Yarnall AJ, O’Brien JT, Coleman SY, Brooks DJ, Barker RA, Burn DJ. Health-related quality of life in early Parkinson’s disease: the impact of nonmotor symptoms. Mov Disord. 2014;29:195-202. View Publication
• Rochester L, Galna B, Lord S, Yarnall AJ, Morris R, Duncan G, Khoo TK, Mollenhauer B, Burn DJ. Decrease in Aβ42 predicts dopa-resistant gait progression in early Parkinson disease. Neurology 2017; 88: 1501-1511. View Publication
• Firbank MJ, Yarnall AJ, Lawson RA, Duncan GW, Khoo TK, Petrides GS, O’Brien JT, Barker RA, Maxwell RJ, Brooks DJ, Burn DJ. Cerebral glucose metabolism and cognition in newly diagnosed Parkinson’s disease: ICICLE PD study. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2016; 0:1–7. doi:10.1136/jnnp-2016-313918. Epub ahead of print. View Publication
• Khoo TK, Yarnall AJ, Duncan GW, Coleman S, O’Brien JT, Brooks DJ, Barker RA, Burn DJ. The spectrum of non-motor symptoms in early Parkinson disease. Neurology. 2013;80:276-81. View Publication
• Duncan GW, Tan MP, Newton JL, Reeve P, Parry SW. Vasovagal syncope in the older person: differences in presentation between older and younger patients. Age Ageing. 2010;39:465-70. View Publication