University College London
Institute of Neurology
33 Queen Square
WD1N 3BG London

United Kindgom

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Project Leader

Dr. Matthias Köpp Phone: +44-(0)1494-601300  Fax: +44-(0)1494-875666  Contact

Project Staff

Prof. Dr. Sanjay Sisodiya WP leader, genetics/molecular biology lead

Prof. Dr. John Duncan MRI / Clinical Lead  Contact

Dr. Maria Feldmann Clinical Research Fellow  Contact

Ms Jenny Jamnadas-Khoda Scientific administrator/ Researcher  Contact

Joan Liu PhD Research Fellow  Contact

Institute Presentation

The Institute of Neurology, a specialist postgraduate medical Institute of University College London, is internationally recognized as a centre of excellence for the studies of the basic mechanisms of neurological diseases and is the premier research centre for the clinical neurosciences in the United Kingdom. It received the highest ranking (6*) in the latest Research Assessment Exercise, and has an international reputation, in particular for neuroimaging, neurogenetics, movement disorders, molecular neuropathology and epilepsy research.

The Institute receives over £19.1m per annum in grants for research from the principal medical charities concerned with neurological diseases, and from government agencies such as the Medical Research Council.  Approximately 19% of the Institute's funding is obtained from the Higher Education Funding Council for England which has awarded high ratings for the Institute in each of the national Research Assessment Exercises since 1986.  The Institute currently holds over 250 active grants, supporting research into the causes and treatment of a wide range of neurological diseases, including movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, brain cancer, stroke and brain injury, muscle and nerve disorders, cognitive dysfunction and dementia, and the work of the Institute's clinical academic staff is closely integrated with the Hospital's care of patients. Generous support for research at the Institute of Neurology is provided by the medical charities and especially by the National Society for Epilepsy (NSE).
The Institute is closely associated in its work with the National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals' NHS Foundation Trust, and in combination they form a national and international centre at Queen Square for teaching, training and research in neurology and allied clinical and basic neurosciences. The Institute of Neurology is a member of the newly formed Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at UCL, and has nine academic departments: Neurodegenerative Disease; Molecular Neuroscience; Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy; Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders; Imaging Neuroscience; Brain Repair and Rehabilitation; and Neuroinflammation; Reta Lila Weston Institute of Neurological Studies; Clinical Neuroscience.

The imaging group within the Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (DCEE) addresses the mechanisms underlying seizure initiation, propagation and termination the mechanisms underlying susceptibility to seizures, and the consequences of seizures. These areas are being explored with MR imaging, MR spectroscopy, functional MRI, PET, neurophysiology, histopathology, neurogenetics and experimental methods. Current projects are examining structural and functional connectivity in temporal and frontal lobe epilepsy using fMRI combined with tractography, MR imaging of brain generators in human epilepsy using EEG-correlated fMRI, imaging of neurotransmitter fluxes using dynamic PET studies and evaluation of CNS5161 as a potential PET ligand to explore in-vivo excitatory neuro-transmission via NMDA receptors in man.
Within the DCEE, all necessary experience for immunohistochemistry, double-labelling immunofluorescence and quantitative immunoautoradiography of these proteins exists. The group has a long-standing interest in population genetics analyses of neuronal disease with particular focus on genetic studies of susceptibility and treatment response in epilepsy.