Research group

Clinical Neurosciences

We study clinical areas that include major human infectious diseases and diseases that affect the central nervous system.

Part of Medicine

About

Our group is part of the University-wide Southampton Neurosciences Group (SoNG). The group was established in 2001 to provide a focus for collaborative, interdisciplinary and applied neuroscience. 

We research the clinical and environmental factors that impair brain development. This includes studies on the impact on neurological and neurodevelopmental function in children who were both at high risk and/or have suffered adverse effects. We also explore the pathology, prevention and repair strategies for damaged neural tissue.  

Our research programme is aimed at understanding the biological basis and treatment of neurodegenerative disease. We do this through a number of projects: 

  • drug clinical trials 
  • immunotherapy 
  • tissue engineering 
  • neuroimaging 

Our laboratory-based research is helping us understand the main risk factors for neurodegenerative diseases (for example, ageing, genotype and neuroinflammation) and the repair potential of stem cells using animal models and human tissue. 

People, projects and publications

People

Dr Eloise Keeling

Senior Research Fellow
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Dr Helena Lee

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • Albinism
  • Nystagmus
  • Optical Coherence Tomography

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Professor Ian Galea MD FRCP PhD

Prof (Clinical & Experimental Neurology)

Research interests

  • Brain haemorrhage: pathophysiology
  • Blood-brain barrier and immune-brain signalling
  • Neuroimmunology

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Dr Ibrahim Aslan

Research Fellow
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Dr James Self BM FRCOphth PhD

Associate Professor
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Dr Jay Amin BM, MRCPsych, PhD

Assoc Prof in Psychiatry of Older Age

Research interests

  • Developing our understanding of the role of inflammation in Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease, including how it affects disease progression.
  • Undertaking cohort studies exploring clinical outcomes in dementia.
  • Undertaking clinical trials testing novel treatments in dementia.

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Dr Jorn Lakowski

Lecturer

Research interests

  • Retinal Disease Modelling
  • Retinal Development
  • Drug Screening

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Professor Julia Sinclair MB BS DPhil FRCPsych FHEA

Professor of Addiction Psychiatry

Research interests

  • alcohol use disorders
  • health services research
  • co-morbidity
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Dr Kim Bull PhD, MSc, BSc (Hons)

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • Quality of survival in children treated for brain tumours within the context of European treatment trials.
  • Health-related quality of life in children treated for brain tumours.
  • Optomising the collection of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in children treated for brain tumours.
Connect with Kim
During neurological disease, brain tissue including vessels and blood within are destroyed, leading to inflammation, release of haemoglobin and blood-brain barrier compromise. We study these pathological processes across a range of neurological diseases.
Prof (Clinical & Experimental Neurology)