Sana Suri

Research Profile: I am an Oxford Brain Sciences Senior Research Fellow based jointly between the Department of Psychiatry and the Oxford Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (OxCIN). I am the Principal Investigator of the Heart and Brain Group. My group's research combines qualitative research, multi-modal neuroimaging and epidemiology to study risk and resilience for dementia. We use structural, diffusion, perfusion, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate how the brain's vascular health varies with age, with a specific focus on how it may be affected by sociodemographic, lifestyle, and cardiovascular risk for dementia. I hold grants from the University of Oxford, Alzheimer's Society, Academy of Medical Sciences, Horizon Europe, British Heart Foundation, and Alzheimer's Research UK. I am on the Editorial Board for the journal Ageing Brain.

Education: I completed my undergraduate degree at the National University of Singapore (BSc Hons First Class) and MSc in Neuroscience (Distinction) at the University of Oxford. I received a Clarendon Scholarship at Keble College, Oxford and obtained my DPhil in Psychiatry in 2016. My doctoral research in the Translational Neuroimaging Group revealed early impairments in the brain's vascular health in young adults at a genetic risk for developing Alzheimer's disease.

Teaching: I am the Co-Director of the BHF/UKDRI 4 year PhD programme in Vascular Neurodegeneration, and am on the organising committee for the MSc in Neuroscience and the MSc in Clinical & Therapeutic Neurosciences. 

Public Outreach: I am a keen science communicator and have written articles for The Conversation UK and the University of Oxford Blog. I have won several awards for scientific outreach, and have informed UK's science and ageing policy in Parliament on multiple occasions (Lord's Inquiry, Voices of the Future, STEM for Britain). I led the Patient and Public Involvement Strategy for OxCIN (2019-23). 

Equality and Diversity: I am passionate about equity and inclusivity in academia. I led the OxCIN EDI Board from 2019-2025 and I now lead our flagship Inclusive Culture Ambassador Programme, for which we won the prestigious Vice-Chancellor's Award for Positive Research Culture in 2025. I often share my experiences as a Brown woman in STEM through public lectures and blogs. I have sat on the Departmental Athena SWAN Board (2019-22) and previously founded Mosaic, the OxCIN network for promoting and supporting diversity in academia.