Logo of MOYMD, a business that supports movers, nurseries, the elderly, and dementia patients, featuring an orange brain and arrow on a black background with orange and black text.
A woman with short brown hair smiling, wearing a light-colored, textured sweater with sequins, standing indoors near a wooden railing with windows and blurred background.

MOTIV-PD Lead: Professor Alison Yarnall

Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Honorary Consultant in Older People’s Medicine

Deputy Director Clinical Ageing Research Unit

Email: alison.yarnall@newcastle.ac.uk

ORCID

Research Gate

Profile

Alison leads the Mobility & Ageing: Outcomes, Trials, InnoVation in Parkinson’s Disease & Dementia (MOTIV-PD) Team

Professor Alison Yarnall is a Professor of Geriatrics and an Honorary Consultant in Older People’s Medicine, with clinical and research expertise in Parkinson’s disease and related neurodegenerative conditions. Her work focuses on key complications of ageing and neurodegeneration, particularly gait and mobility impairment, and related functional decline. She leads a major digital measures study embedded within a large disease-modification trial in Parkinson’s disease, advancing the development and validation of real-world mobility endpoints for clinical research and clinical care. Her broader programme aims to translate objective mobility assessment into meaningful clinical tools to improve outcomes for older adults living with Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.  

MOTIV-PD Team

Postdoctoral Research Associates

PhD & MD Students

Associated Clinical Staff

MOTIV-PD Studies

  • Logo for Mobilise-D featuring a stylized human figure integrated into the text, with green, blue, and orange colors.

    Mobilise-D

    Mobilise-D

    Funder: EU-IMI & EPFIA

    Principle Investigator: Prof Lynn Rochester

    Co-Investigators: Prof Alison Yarnall, Dr Silvia Del Din

    Team members: Phil Brown, Dr Lisa Alcock, Heather Hunter, Dr Cam Kirk

    Click Here
  • Logo for Mobilise-D featuring stylized human figure and colorful text.

    Mobilise-D Extension

    A Mobilise-D Extension study

    Funder: Michael J Fox Foundation

    Chief Investigator: Prof Alison Yarnall

    Co-Investigators: Prof Lynn Rochester, Dr Silvia Del Din

    Team members: Dr Hannah Blackburn, Dr Ellen Lirani-Silva, Dr Cameron Kirk, Dr Patrick Tait, Philip Brown, Heather Hunter, Isabel Neatrour

    Website
  • Text graphic with black background, displaying the words 'EJS ACT PD' in white, with an orange line intersecting the letter 'A' in 'ACT'.

    EJS ACT-PD Digital Measures Study

    The Edmond J. Safra Accelerating Clinical Trials for Parkinson’s Disease:  Digital Measures Study

    Funder: Michael J Fox Foundation

    Cheif Investigator: Prof Camille Carroll

    Co-Investigators: Prof Alison Yarnall, Dr Silvia Del Din, Dr Lisa Alcock

    Team members: Dr Lou Sutcliffe, Dr Silvia Del-Din, Hugo Hiden, Dr Lisa Alcock, Dr Marie-Louise Zeissler, Dr Ellen Silva

    Website
  • The word 'COBALT' overlaid on a light blue fluctuating line graph.

    COBALT

    COmBining memantine And cholinesterase inhibitors in Lewy body dementia Treatment trial

    Funder: Health Technology Assessment Programme, National Health and Medical Research Council

    Chief-Investigator: Prof John-Paul Taylor

    Principal Investigator: Prof Alison Yarnall

    Team members: Kathryn Walker

    Website
  • A logo with the word 'CREE' and an acronym for 'Cholinergic Response in Early Lewy body Disease' on the side, featuring a stylized brain illustration.

    CREED

    The Cholinergic ResponsE in Early lewy body Disease

    Funder: Lewy Body Society

    Principle Investigator: Prof John-Paul Taylor

    Co-Investigator: Prof Alison Yarnall

    Team members: Dr Lisa Alcock, Dr Aron Syversen

    Website
  • Colorful torus with the word 'TORUS' in bold black letters in the center.

    TORUS

    Transforming the Objective Real-world measUrement of Symptoms

    Funder: EPSRC

    Directors: Professor Ian Craddock (Uni of Bristol), Professor Lynn Rochester

    Co-Investigators: Dr Silvia Del Din, Professor Alison Yarnall

    Team members: Dr Lisa Alcock, Dr Kirsty Scott, Dr Chloe Hinchliffe

    Click Here
  • Text in bold orange font on a white background that reads 'Ghrelin in Dementia'.

    Ghrelin in Dementia

    To determine if ghrelin can be used as a biomarker for dementia and neurodegenerative disease

    Funder: Weston Brain Institute

    Principal Investigator: Prof Alison Yarnall

    Team members: Dr Ellen Lirani-Silva

    More Information
  • Logo with the text 'IDEA FAST' and a pink sound wave icon.

    IDEA-FAST

    IDEA-FAST

    Funders: EU-IMI & EPFIA

    Principle Investigator: Fai Ng

    Co-Investigators: Prof Lynn Rochester, Prof Alison Yarnall, Dr Silvia Del Din

    Team members: Phil Brown, Heather Hunter, Dr Ellen Silva, Dr Chloe Hinchliffe

    Click Here
  • Illustration of an orange oak leaf with black outline over a beige triangle background, labeled 'OACS-3' at the bottom.

    OACS-3

    Obeticholic acid for the Amelioration of Cognitive Symptoms trial - 3

    Funder: Intercept Pharmaceuticals

    Principal Investigator: Alison Yarnall

    Team members: Kathryn Walker, Dr Lisa Alcock

    More Information
  • Blue snowflake with the text ICICLE-PD in blue, stylized font.

    ICICLE-PD

    Incidence of Cognitive Impairments in Cohorts with Longitudinal Evaluation in Parkinson’s disease

    Funder: Parkinson’s UK

    Chief Investigators: Prof David Burn

    Principal Investigators: Prof Lynn Rochester, Prof Alison Yarnall

    Data curator: Dr Rachael Lawson,

    Click Here
  • Illustration with the text 'AdVAnSInG-PD' and a lightning bolt replacing the letter 'S', a brain graphic, and a silhouette of a person with an arrow pointing from the brain to the person.

    ADVANSING-PD

    Adjunctive vagus nerve stimulation for improving neural control of gait in Parkinson’s disease

    Funder: Dunhill Medical Trust & Parkinson’s UK

    Chief Investigator: Prof Alison Yarnall

    Team members: Heather Hunter, Phil Brown

    Website