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Spotlight – Marta Camacho

Marta Camacho, Parkinson’s UK Senior Research Fellow

Research into gut-health could help our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases and help find new treatments.

Marta Camacho, Parkinson’s UK Senior Research Fellow

What are you currently working on?

My research work focuses on the role of the gut in the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Our previous work has shown that gut health, constipation in particular, is associated with faster progression in Parkinson’s disease. Building on these findings, I lead two studies investigating how microbial byproducts, such as methane, and gut-derived hormones, including ghrelin (referred to a ‘hunger hormone’ which is produced in the stomach that acts as an ‘on-switch’ for hunger), interact with human physiology and influence the progression of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. My long-term objective is to change how constipation is considered – not just as a secondary symptom, but showing it could contribute to neurodegeneration and develop gut-targeting precision therapies that will help slow down the disease progression.

Could you tell us more about your PhD?

I completed my PhD in Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge, whilst working part-time as a research assistant. As a database manager I had the opportunity to analyse one of our cohorts and we found that early constipation may be associated with more rapid disease progression in Parkinson’s Disease (PD).

During my PhD, I established the Cambridge Gut Study Cohort composed of 146 people with and without Parkinson’s to research the effects of gut problems and gut-related markers (e.g. ghrelin, immune markers, specific stool microbes) on disease progression and cognitive decline. The Cambridge Gut Study Cohort provided the critical pilot data that underpinned the main studies I am currently leading.

In 2025, I was honoured to receive a Parkinson’s UK Senior Research Fellowship. With this support, we are currently investigating non-pharmacological approaches to improving gut health, including probiotic and dietary interventions. We aim to share the findings from this work by 2028.

What is your biggest achievement to date?

I take a utility-first approach to research, prioritising work that has tangible impact. A key achievement has been addressing a major gap in how we assess the gut–brain axis in Parkinson’s disease. In 2021, with the support of people living with Parkinson’s, we developed the Gastrointestinal Dysfunction Scale for Parkinson’s Disease (GIDS-PD) and donated its copyright to the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. Since then, the tool has been translated into multiple languages, including Japanese, Arabic, Turkish, and Italian, and is now used in research studies worldwide.

Alongside this, we have been working to validate more objective measures of gut health, such as the Blue Poop Challenge and breath-based tests, to improve how gastrointestinal function is quantified in neurodegenerative disease. The blue poop challenge is a simple experiment where research volunteers have a blue food dye in a liquid of their choice to see how long it takes before they poop turns blue. We use it as an at-home experiment to estimate how quickly food moves through their digestive system. By prioritising open-access clinical tools, I aim to contribute not just to academic knowledge, but to shaping the field in a way that improves research precision and accelerates progress.

Equally important to me is the collaborative nature of my work. Throughout my PhD and current fellowship, I have built strong partnerships across academic institutions and industry, as well as with patients and the public. Engaging people both with and without Parkinson’s to actively shape our research has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my career.

What is rewarding about your job?

In my day-to-day work, I particularly enjoy analysing data, starting with a research question (and I have many), considering whether and how the available data can address it, and working through the process of generating, interpreting, and discussing results with colleagues. It’s a part of the research process that I find incredibly fun.

Equally important to me is the opportunity to meet people, especially patients and their families. Witnessing their everyday acts of kindness, resilience, and altruism in the face of neurodegenerative disease. I also regularly engage with the community, giving talks to local support groups, typically once a month, to share insights and our current efforts to understand the role of the gut in human health.

What challenges / difficulties do you face as a researcher?

Research comes with a range of challenges. One of the most significant is securing funding, and recognising how this shapes a project at every level – from study design and methodology, to timelines, outcomes, and even work–life balance. Once funding is in place, effective project management becomes critical. Delivering an ambitious research programme requires substantial administrative effort and coordination across multiple teams and departments, including administrative, HR, finance, and legal teams. Success often depends not only on scientific insight, but on the ability to navigate and align these moving parts efficiently.

What have you learnt since becoming a researcher?

I feel that critical thinking improves with research experience and it is one of the skills that I treasure most. As a researcher, I purposefully and willingly share my work with others to be scrutinised. I welcome when others point out where I missed an important link, or how an interpretation of a given finding may be at fault. It’s a sharpening and humbling exercise that transcends my work and shapes how I engage with information more broadly and make sense of the world around me.

Why is your role important?

I believe my work is important because it advances our understanding of modifiable factors that influence how neurodegenerative diseases progress over time, with the aim of improving patients’ lives. While my research is not directly focused on finding a cure, it seeks to provide practical tools and insights to better assess disease progression, identify opportunities to slow it, and ultimately enhance quality of life while the scientific community continues to work toward more definitive treatments.

How did you get into research?

I first became interested in research during my Master’s in Cognitive Ageing at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, where it became clear that I wanted to pursue a research career. However, I initially chose to work in a memory clinic to develop my clinical training and become a qualified Clinical Neuropsychologist.

I then joined the Neuroscience Programme at the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon as a neuropsychologist and research assistant. There, I combined clinical work in the mornings with research in the afternoons, contributing to projects ranging from post-ingestive reward mechanisms in obesity to taste sensitivity and reward processing in Parkinson’s disease.

Having always aspired to complete a PhD, I later applied to Cambridge as a research assistant and was subsequently accepted into the Clinical Neuroscience PhD programme the following year.

With the knowledge and experience you have now, what advice would you give yourself 10 years ago?

Take a break – your sense of worth is not measured by your work load.

What opportunities are there for researchers in Cambridge?

Cambridge is a vibrant place to work and live. In terms of academic opportunities, I am frequently awed with the quantity and diversity of seminars, workshops, courses, journal clubs from different fields that I can attend. The heterogeneity of researchers that it attracts and whom you can meet and collaborate with feels unapparelled. Also, the college structure allowed me to be friends with science philosophers and physicists turned historians and I often feel richer and humbled by our diverse discussions. The city itself offers a great quality of life and it is a wonderful place to raise a family.

What makes Cambridge a great place to conduct research?

There are many factors that make the department of Clinical Neuroscience in Cambridge a great place to work and study. What struck me most was the extent to which individuals within and outside my own group are willing to collaborate and cooperate in our research projects. This attitude of giving someone your time, effort and knowledge so that they can improve their work and we can all achieve the highest level of research is something that I really appreciate and I am proud to be a part of.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about pursuing a career in research?

Don’t do a PhD straight after your undergraduate studies. Be a research assistant in several labs, do clinical work or work in industry, just for a couple of years. During this period, consolidate techniques, sharpen your critical thinking, recognise your weaknesses and strengths, learn what you would like to research one day as an independent scientist, and learn to manage expectations. Acquire knowledge and experience that will be crucial for you to have a mature PhD experience, in which not everything is new and overwhelming. I do not regret doing this myself.

Why do you think research is important?

Research is vital to create knowledge and tools that not only describe and improve the world around us but ultimately save lives. To me research offers something almost equally important, a human process through which we can try to understand the mechanisms and intricacies of any given subject. It is the most noble of human attempts.

What work did you do during the Covid-19 pandemic?

The first lockdown halted research visits with patients but I continued to work remotely on database queries, data analysis and writing papers. It was very difficult for all of us but as we work mainly with older adults it was important that we ensured their safety. Since then, we have been very busy trying to recuperate the backlog of follow-up visits by seeing as many patients as we possibly can in a safe manner while preparing for an exciting new clinical trial.

The NIHR Cambridge BRC is part of the NIHR and hosted by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the University of Cambridge. We are at the heart of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Europe’s largest health research area.

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