Aleksandra (Ola) is a Senior Clinical Research Coordinator and a PhD Research Fellow to Professor Ray Chaudhuri at King’s Parkinson’s Foundation Centre of Excellence and King’s College London.
Ola is looking after a portfolio of commercial and non-commercial studies and trials which include academic observational studies as well as novel drug trials and trials looking at repurposing existing therapies. She also works as a coordinator of the Neurosciences Research Advisory Group (NeuroRAG), which is a feasibility committee within King’s College Hospital to ensure that the Neuroscience research undertaken at King’s is deliverable and of high quality. In addition, she helps coordinate the Parkinson’s disease Nurse Specialist online platform meetings and the Weekly Academic Teaching sessions with Prof K Ray Chaudhuri (King’s College Hospital/King’s College London initiative).
Ola’s main interest lies in complimentary therapies for the management of Parkinson’s disease symptoms. As such, her PhD thesis is focused on exploring ballet-based exercise regime as a potential adjuvant therapy in PD, and she is the main researcher for the PD-Ballet Project, which Prof Chaudhuri leads in collaboration with English National Ballet and the Wellcome Trust. She is also interested in the use of technology and AI to diagnose and manage symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease.
Ola’s background is in neuropsychology and cognitive psychology and before joining Prof Chaudhuri’s team, she worked on a trial investigating the effects of vestibular stimulation on the symptoms of Parkinson’s. Ola is a member of the International Movement Disorders Society (IMDS) and serves as a coordinator for the Complimentary Therapies Theme Subgroup of the Non-Motor Study Group, endorsed by the IMDS and has contributed to several research articles published in peer-reviewed journals including Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, Journal of Neurology and NPJ Parkinson’s disease.
