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12 Headlines W hen Associate Professor Deborah Young arrives at work each day, she passes stunning artworks by prolific New Zealand artist Pat Hanly. The paintings in 'The Seven Ages of Man' were commissioned in 1975 for the then-new medical school building in Auckland, where they’ve been ever since. The vibrant, colourful pieces are reminders of the importance of Dr Young’s work. Pat died after a long battle with Huntington’s disease (HD) in 2004. There is no cure for HD, an inherited condition that gradually causes behaviour changes, involuntary movements, and deterioration of cognitive abilities. Dr Young hopes that a promising new antibody therapy she has developed could lead to the first effective immunotherapy for patients. Her research received the largest single project grant awarded by the Neurological Foundation this year. Hope for Huntington’s? New therapy could hold the key University of Auckland Associate Professor Deborah Young has developed a remarkable immunotherapy with cognition-enhancing and neuroprotective properties. It has shown promising results in pre-clinical trials. She’s continuing to gather evidence in the hope that the therapy may work to prevent damage from Huntington’s disease. If successful, this work will contribute to new therapies that may be suitable for a broad range of neurodegenerative diseases.
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