Professor Steven Rose
Steven Rose was appointed Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences in 1969 and established the Brain and Behaviour Research Group at the Open University, where he is now an Emeritus Professor. Educated at Cambridge, his scientific interest in understanding the brain led him to take a PhD at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, and to continue his postdoctoral research at Oxford University (New College), the University of Rome and the MRC in London before joining the Science Faculty at the Open University. His research has focused on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of learning and memory, with over 300 research publications, and various international honours and awards including the Sechenov and Anokhin medals (Russia), the Ariens Kappers medal (Netherlands), the Biochemical Society medal for excellence in public communication of science, the Edinburgh Medal and the silver medal of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts. During his time at the Open University he has also held visiting professorships and appointments at the Australian National University, Harvard University, University of Minnesota (Hill Distinguished Visiting Professor), San Francisco Exploratorium (Osher Fellow), Academic Sinica in Beijing and University College London. He was the co-founder (in the 1960s) of the UK Brain Research Association, now the British Neuroscience Association. Steven is a patron of the Alzheimer's Society.
Dr Doug Brown
Doug Brown is the Director of Research and Development at the Alzheimer’s Society. He gained his PhD at Cambridge in molecular biology of HIV and completed a postdoctoral fellowship on malaria and how infection affects the development of the immune system, before taking up a post as Head of Biomedical Research at the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society. For five years, he helped shape MS research in the UK and globally, playing a leading role in a number of innovative national and international research collaborations, before moving to his present appointment as Director of Research and Development at the Alzheimer’s Society. Increasing investment is a key goal of the Alzheimer’s Society which last year spent more than £5million on research, a record investment from the Society. By 2017, the Alzheimer’s Society aims to invest more than £10million a year in dementia research. Its research programme will continue to provide a vehicle for funding across the spectrum of dementia research, into the cause, cure, care and prevention of dementia.
Dr Eric Karran
Eric Karran is Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK). He is also an Honorary Senior Research Associate in the Department of Molecular Neuroscience at UCL Institute of Neurology, and Visiting Professor in the Department of Human Genetics at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. Eric joined ARUK in 2012 and has responsibility for high-level external representation of the charity as well as driving forward its research strategy. He has extensive dementia research experience gained from working in the pharmaceutical industry, holding senior positions in neuroscience drug discovery research groups (most recently Chief Scientific Officer at Janssen Pharmaceuticals in Belgium), focusing on finding therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease. He has interacted widely with leading academic groups in the UK, Europe and the USA, as well as working with public funding agencies such as the MRC. ARUK has funded over 434 research projects across the UK with a value in excess of £43million, and is currently supporting 140 research projects worth over £20million within leading universities in the UK.
Professor Martin Prince
Martin Prince is Professor of Epidemiological Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry in London. He is Co-Director (with Vikram Patel) of the KHP/ LSHTM Centre for Global Mental Health, Head of the HSPRD Centre for Public Mental Health and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at King’s College Hospital. He trained in Psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital and in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His main focus is on mental health priorities in developing countries. PhD students from Ethiopia, Pakistan, India, China, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Brazil at the Institute’s section of epidemiology, have studied diverse topics (women’s mental health, maternal depression and infant development, migration, suicide, problem drinking), all public health and social priorities for the regions concerned. Since 1998, Martin has co-ordinated The 10/66 Dementia Research Group, a network of over 100 researchers, mainly from the developing world, who have worked together to promote research into dementia. 10/66 is part of Alzheimer’s Disease International. A major aim of the group is to disseminate evidence in such a way as to increase awareness of the major problems to be faced now and in the future. Aside from his work in developing countries, Martin co-ordinates the study of mental and cognitive health in the 10 Nation Study of Health and Retirement in Europe, and the UK National Psychiatric Morbidity Survey.
Professor Sube Banerjee
Sube Banerjee is Professor of Dementia and Associate Dean for Strategy at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Visiting Professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, and Clinical Director for Dementia, NHS London. He studied Medicine at St Thomas’ Hospital Medical School, trained in Psychiatry at Guy’s Hospital, the Maudsley and the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, and in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Prior to his present appointment, he was Professor of Mental Health and Ageing for ten years at the Institute of Psychiatry (2003-2012) where he directed its Centre for Innovation and Evaluation in Mental Health. Sube was also the Department of Health’s senior professional advisor on older people’s mental health (2006-2010), clinical lead for the National Dementia Strategy (2007-2009), and chaired the independent ministerial enquiry into the use of antipsychotic drugs for people with dementia. He has more than 100 peer reviewed publications and his main research interests include: quality of life in dementia; carer research; randomized controlled trials; the interface between health and social services; the organization and delivery of mental health services; and development of strategies for their evaluation. A further focus of his work is on the interface between policy, research and practice. Sube is an Ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society.
Dr Peter Bowie
Peter Bowie is a Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist and Clinical Director of Specialist Services (which includes dementia services) with Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust. He is also Director of Postgraduate Medical Education at the University of Sheffield, and Chief Examiner at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Professor Robin Morris
Robin Morris MA (Oxon), MSc, PhD (Cantab) studied Physiology and Psychology at Oxford University and completed his training in Clinical Psychology at Newcastle University. His PhD on working memory in Alzheimer’s disease was at the MRC Applied Psychology Unit in Cambridge, and his postdoctoral work was at the University of Cambridge with Trevor Robbins and in the University of Toronto with Fergus Craik. He was appointed Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry in 1989 and Professor of Neuropsychology in 2001. Robin is also Consultant and Head of Clinical Neuropsychology at King’s College Hospital in London. His main interests are in the neuropsychology of memory and executive functioning. He has conducted research on focal brain damage, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, and has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers and 40 book chapters, including a book (co-edited with James Becker) on ’Cognitive Neuropsychology of Alzheimer’s Disease’ published by Oxford University Press. Robin has served on the Governing Board of the International Neuropsychological Society, the committee of the British Psychological Society (BPS) Division of Neuropsychology, as Associate Editor for Cortex and the Journal of Neuropsychology, and is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, the Society for Biology and the Academy of Social Sciences. He was recently awarded the Barbara Wilson Neuropsychology Award from the BPS in recognition of outstanding contribution to neuropsychology in the UK.
Professor Julie Williams
Julie Williams CBE is Professor of Neuropsychological Genetics and Head of the Neurodegeneration Section of the MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff. She began her academic career at the School of Medicine in Cardiff progressing from Research Fellow to Professor involved in leading a number of research programmes in psychiatric genetics. Her research has focused on identifying and understanding genes which increase the risk of developing complex psychological and neurodegenerative disorders. Having initially worked on developmental dyslexia and schizophrenia, her research has moved to Alzheimer’s disease. She is one of the UK's leading figures in Alzheimer's research. Among her most important work is the discovery of susceptibility genes for Alzheimer’s disease (CLU, PICALM, CR1) from a study involving over 20,000 individuals from Europe and the USA – findings highlighted by Time Magazine as among the top 10 medical breakthroughs of 2009. Her former work on a susceptibility gene for developmental dyslexia (KIAA0319) was highlighted by the journal Science as one of the major discoveries of 2005. She was instrumental in establishing a Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Unit in Cardiff and is the current Chief Scientific Advisor to Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Professor Stephen Gentlemen
Steve Gentleman is Professor of Neuropathology at the Department of Medicine, Imperial College London. He gained his first degree in Pharmacology, before completing an MRC-funded PhD studentship on the Pathology of Alzheimer’s disease at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London. His post-doctoral training was at St Mary’s Hospital and Chairing Cross and Westminster Hospital Medical Schools. He was appointed Lecturer and subsequently Reader in Experimental Neuropathology at Chairing Cross and Westminster Hospital (which later became part of Imperial College), before being promoted to his current position. Steve was one of the first Alzheimer’s Society Research Fellows and is currently an Ambassador of the Society and a member of its Research Advisory Committee. For more than two decades, he has run an active research team investigating the pathology of neurodegenerative disease and traumatic brain injury. Some of his early work identified pathological changes in the brains of people who had died of serious head injury, which were very similar to those seen in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. This link, based on inflammatory mechanisms, is still the focus of research in collaboration with colleagues throughout the UK and USA. In more recent years he has been part of a European consortium working to standardise the neuropathological diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. Steve has provided diagnostic support for the Parkinson’s UK and Multiple Sclerosis Society Tissue Banks at Imperial and is a member of the management committee of the MRC Network of Brain Banks in the UK. In addition to his research interests, Steve has key teaching roles in the Faculty of Medicine, including as Director of Postgraduate Taught Courses.
Professor Paul Francis
Paul Francis is Professor of Neurochemistry at King’s College London. He studied Physiology and Biochemistry, and obtained his PhD in Neuroscience from Reading University, examining how the brain controls reproductive function. His postdoctoral training was with David Bowen at the Institute of Neurology, looking at biochemical changes in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease. His own work and previous studies from that laboratory helped to provide the rationale for drugs currently used to treat AD. In 1995 he was appointed Senior Lecturer at the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St Thomas’s, which later merged with King’s College London, and continued to work in the area of dementias. In 2007 he became Professor and Director of Brains for Dementia Research, a network of brain banks specializing in the supply of human post-mortem material to researchers, with the aim of finding better treatments for dementia. His main interests lie in understanding the relationship between brain changes and symptoms of dementia such as changes in memory and behaviour. The focus of these studies have widened to include Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia and vascular dementia.
Professor Stuart Pickering-Brown
Stuart Pickering-Brown is Professor of Neurogenetics at the University of Manchester. He graduated with a degree in Biochemistry from Manchester, and took up a research position under the supervision of David Mann and Frank Owen working on genetic aspects of fronto-temporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). He was awarded his PhD from Manchester in 1998. Part of this work, in collaboration with John Hardy and Mike Hutton (at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville at the time), resulted in identification of the first gene for familial FTLD. He was appointed Eleanor Peal Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry in London where he continued his work on FTLD, before transferring to the Mayo Clinic on a Smith Foundation Fellowship in 2003, where he worked as an Assistant Professor. In 2005, Stuart returned to Manchester on an MRC New Investigator Research Fellowship, to continue work on the molecular genetics of neurodegenerative disease. His work on identifying mutations in progranulin causing tau negative FTLD was published in Nature in 2006 and in 2007 he was named ‘Researcher of the Year’ by the University of Manchester. In 2008, he received an MRC Senior Non-clinical Fellowship, to support the work of his laboratory on FTLD, and was awarded a personal Chair in Neurogenetics at Manchester in 2010.
Professor Johannes Attems
Johannes Attems is Professor of Neuropathology and Honorary Consultant Pathologist at Newcastle University. He graduated from the Medical University of Vienna and trained in Pathology at Otto Wagner Hospital, Vienna, where he was later appointed Consultant Pathologist. He was awarded the venia docendi (Privat Dozent) by the Medical University of Vienna, and appointed as Reader in Neurodegenerative Pathology at the Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, where he became Professor in 2013. He is Director of the Newcastle Brain Tissue Resource and currently chairs the Neuropathological Proceedings Group of Brains for Dementia Research. His research interests lie in neurodegenerative diseases of the ageing brain with a strong focus on clinico-pathological correlative studies. His research has focused on cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), Alzheimer´s disease and Lewy body disease. His current work focuses on quantitative neuropathological assessment of multimorbidity in the ageing human brain, evaluating the combined influence of various morbidities on clinical outcomes, in an effort to identify new therapeutic strategies for age-associated neurodegeneration.
Professor John Zajicek
John Zajicek is Professor of Clinical Neuroscience and Associate Dean for Research at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, Plymouth University. He is also an Honorary Consultant at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. John’s background is in cell biology and immunology from Cambridge. He moved to Plymouth in 1995, where he has been actively involved in developing neurology services. He has built a large research group specialising in developing and testing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases including Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. John is a member of the MRC Neurosciences and Mental Health Board, the NIHR Programme Board Subpanel C (Neuroscience and Mental Health), Chair of the UK NIHR Nervous System Disorders Speciality Group, and has acted as Deputy Lead for the South West DeNDRoN local research network (2006-2009), Chair of the Clinical Trials Methodology Special Interest Group (2007-2009), and Deputy Director at the Institute of Health Services Research in Plymouth. He has acted as Chief Investigator in a number of clinical trials and has been Director of the Peninsula Clinical Trials Unit since 2001. His NIHR-funded research focuses on new methods for testing treatments in Alzheimer’s disease.
Professor Gordon Wilcock
Gordon Wilcock is Emeritus Professor of Geratology in the Nuffield Department of Medicine. He qualified in Medicine at Oxford, and was appointed Consultant after training posts at Oxford, Cambridge and the London Hammersmith Hospital. He has been involved in Alzheimer’s disease research since the late 1970s. He moved to Bristol University in 1970, to take up the Chair in Care of the Elderly and establish one of the first multidisciplinary memory clinics in the UK. In Bristol, he created a dementia research unit covering the spectrum from molecular laboratory research at one end, to improving clinical care at the other, including both the development of treatments and the organization of care service delivery. He was the founding chairman of the UK Alzheimer's Disease Society (now the Alzheimer's Society) from 1979 to 1986, and is currently Vice-President of the Society. He returned to Oxford in 2006 as Professor of Geratology and was awarded an Honorary DSc degree from the University of the West of England for his contributions to the field of dementia and Alzheimer's disease research. He integrated dementia research at Oxford, bringing together a number of clinically-oriented research groups, was Director of OPTIMA (Oxford Project For Memory and Ageing, and made significant contributions to the development of drugs for Alzheimer’s disease and to the National Dementia Strategy for England. He was awarded the Dhole-Eddlestone Memorial Prize by the British Geriatrics Society in 2006, for outstanding contributions to the literature on medical care of the elderly.
Professor Clive Holmes
Clive Holmes is Professor of Biological Psychiatry at Southampton University. He graduated with a first class honours degree in Biology from the University of Sussex, before studying Medicine at Leicester University. Clive's initial interest in Alzheimer's disease, and in the causes and origins of dementia came from a six-month placement in Old Age Psychiatry in Leicester. He trained in General Psychiatry at Guy’s Hospital in London and was Visiting Research Fellow in Neurochemistry at the Institute of Neurology for two years. He undertook further training as Lecturer in Old Age Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, and was awarded his PhD on the genetics of neuropsychiatric features of Alzheimer’s disease. He held the post of Senior Lecturer in Old Age Psychiatry at Southampton before being promoted to his current appointment. He is also Honorary Consultant in Old Age Psychiatry at Southern Health Foundation Trust. Clive combines clinical work with research interests in understanding the biological basis for cognitive and neuropsychiatric features of dementia, with a focus on treatments and the role of inflammation. He leads a clinical trials unit that examines the effects of pharmacological interventions on cognitive decline and on the neuropsychiatric features of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.