Dr Dennis Chan

Dr Dennis Chan is an academic neurologist based at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. He is a regional clinical lead for dementia and runs a specialist Cognitive Disorders Clinic from which patients are invited to participate in clinical trials of new anti-dementia drugs. His research focuses on use of spatial memory tests and functional MRI scanning to detect changes in brain function that occur in early AD. Along with collaborators based in London and Cambridge, he has recently been awarded a £2.2 million joint Medical Research Council/Technology Strategy Board Biomedical Catalyst Fund for a project which aims to improve the speed and accuracy of dementia diagnosis using fast track MRI scanning and memory testing.

For more information visit the Chan Lab website

Professor Jennifer Rusted

Jennifer Rusted is a psychologist interested in human memory, normal and abnormal cognitive ageing. Her work explores the impact of the APOE4 polymorphism (an established risk factor for late-life dementia) across the lifespan.  She is also interested in how lifestyle factors (such as exercise and diet), pharmacological and behavioural interventions may enhance cognitive function in older people and may interact with genetic risk factors to influence the onset and the trajectory of late-life dementia.

Dr Sarah King

Sarah King is a molecular and behavioural neuroscientist who uses genetic approaches to investigate the underlying neurobiological processes that control behaviour.  She has particular interest in using genetically manipulated mice carrying the human ApoE genes to investigate their role in cognition across the lifespan. In so doing she aims to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the transition to cognitive decline in ApoE4 carriers to find new targets for preventative treatments for Alzheimer’s.

Further details of the collaborative work between Rusted and King can be found here.

Professor Louise Serpell

Louise Serpell is a biochemist interested in the molecular mechanisms that underlie Alzheimer’s disease, from the protein changes to the toxic effect on neurons. She is particularly interested in how the structure of the proteins involved in Alzheimer’s disease may lead to neuronal dysfunction and cell death. These mechanisms are fundamentally linked to the spread of pathology and the memory symptoms observed in AD patients. She has an interest in identifying biomarkers that may allow earlier diagnosis of AD.

For more information visit the Serpell Lab website

Professor John Atack

John Atack is a molecular pharmacologist who has spent the majority of his career within Big Pharma (Merck, Johnson and Johnson) identifying and developing a variety of drugs for the potential treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Prior to his recent arrival at Sussex, he led the Alzheimer’s disease target identification and target validation group at Johnson and Johnson; an area of research he will continue in his new role as a Director of the Translational Drug Discovery Group.

Dr Kevin Staras

 Kevin Staras  is a neuroscientist with an interest in operational properties of synapses in circuits of hippocampal neurons. The research has major implications for current models of neuron-neuron communication and for understanding forms of plasticity underlying learning and memory. Additionally, uncovering the fundamental processes of synaptic function offers novel insights into cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with types of neural dysfunction. In collaboration with Louise Serpell, he has been examining the effects of amyloidogenic oligomers on presynaptic transmission characteristics.

For more information visit the Staras Lab website