Rate My Professor Simon Parson

Professor Parson's research focuses on Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a childhood form of motor neuron disease, emphasizing its systemic involvement, particularly in the cardiovascular system, and the effects of hypoxia and ischaemia on the nervous system. His work has pioneered the identification of pre- and early symptomatic cardiovascular defects in SMA, highlighting it as a systemic disease beyond motor neurons. Recent studies explore non-neuronal pathologies in ALS/MNDs and use cellular models to assess SMA cell vulnerabilities to hypoxic environments. Key publications include 'Microvascular pathology in the spinal cord of severe spinal muscular atrophy patients' (2026, Acta Neuropathologica Communications), 'A reassessment of spinal cord pathology in severe infantile spinal muscular atrophy' (2024, Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology), 'Hepatocyte-intrinsic SMN deficiency drives metabolic dysfunction and liver steatosis in spinal muscular atrophy' (2024, The Journal of Clinical Investigation), and 'Microvasculopathy in SMA is driven by a reversible autonomous endothelial cell defect' (2022, Journal of Clinical Investigation). He collaborates with researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Roslin Institute, UCL, University of Ottawa, and Johns Hopkins University. Funding supports his work from SMA Europe, Anatomical Society, and Tenovus Scotland. With over 2,477 citations, his contributions advance understanding of SMA therapies targeting non-neuronal pathologies.