Rate My Professor Simon Parson

Professor Simon Parson is the Regius Chair of Anatomy in the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition at the University of Aberdeen, a position he has held since 2018. He previously served as Professor of Anatomy at the same institution from 2013. His academic career includes roles as Senior Lecturer in Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh from 2006 and Lecturer in Anatomy at the University of Leeds from 1995. Professor Parson earned a BSc in Zoology from the University of Durham in 1987 and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh in 1990. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FAS), Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), and Honorary Fellow of the Anatomical Society. He served as President of the Anatomical Society from 2019 to 2022, Elected Councillor from 2010 to 2016, and Meetings Officer from 2011 to 2016. Additionally, he was IFAA Programme Secretary from 2018 to 2019. Professor Parson contributes to various committees, including the College Teaching and Learning Committee, Division of Medical and Dental Education Executive Committee, Year 1-3 Medical Executive Committees, and Medicine Curriculum Steering Group. He oversees all aspects relating to Home Office legislation for anatomical teaching and research and delivers anatomy teaching to medical and science students.

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.