People

My research focuses on functional and structural plasticity with learning and rehabilitation in both humans and rodents.

I use behavioural training interventions and test how factors such as performance level or amount of practice influence brain changes at a functional, structural and neurochemical level in humans (fMRI, rs-fMRI, DTI and MR spectroscopy).

Additionally, I use real-time neurofeedback fMRI to test if brain activity modulation can lead to functional brain changes and behavioural improvements in healthy participants and chronic stroke survivors.

My preclinical work focuses on the underlying cellular mechanisms of brain plasticity, with a focus on white matter and myelination.

Neural stem cell therapy for stroke: A rodent based project to identify potential MRI indices of functional recovery

Stroke is leading cause of severe disability in adults. The clot-buster, Alteplase is the only licensed drug available to treat acute stroke patients however, this is only available to a small percentage of total sufferers and must be administered within the first 4.5 hours after the onset of the stoke. Although substantial research has been carried out to develop new therapies for acute brain damage and chronic disability, the translation from bench-to-bedside has proved to be a significant hurdle.

Many groups have focused on administering stem cells of patient-own or external origin to enhance brain repair. The use of  the conditionally immortalized human neural stem cell line CTX0E03 to treat sub-acute/chronic stroke is soon to enter Phase II clinical trials.

My project is an adjunct to existing pre-clinical work; aiming to understand  how the cells improve recovery using clinically applicable MRI methodologies.

I have successfully developed functional tests suitable of detecting long term functional changes post stroke. With the support of Dr Jozien Goense, we have set up resting-state fMRI in the anaesthetised rodent. With this technique at our disposal, we hope to identify indices of functional improvement in resting-state sensorimotor networks and values derived from the diffusion tensor, which may correlated with improved sensorimotor function.

This is a SPIRIT funded studentship; the stem cell technology, surgical equipment, training and a contribution of supervision for this project are supplied by industrial partner, ReNeuron ltd. (Guildford, UK).

I am a registered STEM ambassador and have participated in outreach events with EuroStemCell.

• Hippocampal atrophy
• Cognitive ageing
• Stroke
• Brain tumours