Translational Neuroimaging

Dementia has long been recognised as a major healthcare problem, but the focus on the ageing population and ever-increasing costs of care have brought it to the top of the political agenda (G8 dementia summit, London, Dec 2013). The only way to significantly reduce the burden of dementia to individuals, carers and society as a whole is to intervene before significant damage to the brain has occurred. This poses two major challenges; development of neuroprotective therapy, and the means of identifying the individuals who will most benefit. Neuroimaging is the window into the living brain, and is thus a key methodology to provide sensitive and specific in vivo markers of dementia risk and dementia phenotypes. The specific contribution of our work is to develop sensitive imaging measures that will aid early diagnosis and contribute to clinical trials. We collaborate with the FMRIB analysis group to apply sophisticated imaging techniques to patients and groups of individuals at increased risk of neurodegenerative disease. Individual research projects are linked below. 

The G8 summit ambition to “develop a cure or disease modifying therapy for dementia by 2025” can only be met by sharing resources and expertise and creating integrative platforms and infrastructure for basic and clinical neuroscientists to work together effectively. The Translational Neuroimaging Group is proud to be an active contributor to local (OxDARE, OPDC, ARUK local network) and national (MRC UK Dementia Platform, NIHR Translational Research Collaboration for Dementia, TRC-D) collaborative initiatives.