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Contact information


anya.topiwala@bdi.ox.ac.uk


01865 28770

collaborators

  • Joel Gelemter
  • Stephen Burgess
  • Klaus Ebmeier
  • Naomi Wray
  • Thomas Nichols
  • Stephen Smith

Public engagement

Alcohol and the Brain Explained video from the Institute of Alcohol Studies

What alcohol is doing to your brain - Daily Telegraph 2024

Drinking can leave your DNA vulnerable to damage - BBC Science Focus 2024

Gout linked to smaller brain volume, higher likelihood of neurodegenerative diseases - Rheumatology News 2023

Alcohol accelerates biological ageing, through damaging DNA - The Independent, 2022

High iron levels found in brains of moderate alcohol drinkers - Forbes, 2022

Genetic study provides new evidence that alcohol accelerates biological ageing - BBC Radio 4. Today, 2022

Any amount of alcohol consumption harmful to the brain - The Guardian, 2021

Drinking any amount of alcohol causes damage to the brain - CNN, 2021.

Anya Topiwala

BM BCh MRCPsych DPhil FHEA

Senior Clinical Researcher

  • Principal Investigator
  • Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Yale University

Research summary

My group studies the impact of and resilience factors on psychiatric and cognitive disorders of later life. We triangulate cutting edge neuro imaging indices of brain health, genetically informed methods for improved causal inference and real world clinical data. Our work has led to substantial advances in understanding relationships between alcohol and brain health. We showed associations between even small amounts of alcohol and a biomarker of Alzheimer's disease. More recently, we showed how alcohol intake links to markers of higher brain iron, providing a potential pathway to cognitive deficits. I also led the largest study to date showing links between alcohol consumption and accelerated biological aging, with implications for many aging-related diseases. 

Researchers interested in joining my research group are invited to get in touch.

Biography

I studied clinical medicine at the University of oxford before undertaking specialist  training in psychiatry, specialising in old age psychiatry. I see patients with memory problems as a consultant in Oxford Health Foundation Trust. I did my DPhil at Oxford, completing this in 2017 in the Department of Psychiatry. In 2019 I moved to the Big Data Institute supported by a Wellcome fellowship.

Research funding/awards

2024 - 2032 Wellcome Career Development  Award

2019 - 2024 Wellcome Clinical Career Development Fellowship.

Current team

  • Sara Javidnia, Post doctoral researcher
  • Saba Ishrat, DPhil student
  • Angeline Lee, Clinical DPhil student
  • Louise Schindler, PhD student (Lausanne)
  • Michal Graczyk, Academic Foundation doctor