UCL news

Researchers based in the UK and in China gathered in London last week for the 'UCL200: UCL and Modern Chinese Neuroscience Symposium', celebrating UCL’s leading role in neuroscience and its historical connection with modern Chinese neurobiology and physiology.

Dr Lucy Core (UCL Dementia Research Centre) describes in The Conversation how some patients with dementia can develop new and unexpected interests, suggesting that not all dementia symptoms are related to memory loss.

New research reveals how Parkinson’s spreads from the gut to the brain, with the help of immune cells – offering a new potential therapeutic strategy – in a study in mice led by scientists at the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL.

A major international research project involving UCL is underway to test whether a finger prick-style blood test could be used to help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, even before symptoms begin.

Five UCL academics have received prestigious European Union-funded grants to support research for the next five years in projects covering economics, criminal governance, and neuroscience.

Professor Sarah Tabrizi, Director of the UCL Huntington’s Disease Centre, has been awarded the British Neuroscience Association (BNA) Outstanding Contribution to Neuroscience Award for 2025, the association’s top annual prize.

Professor Bart De Strooper (UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL) has been awarded an honorary CBE for his services to dementia research in the UK and internationally.

A global clinical trial for a new Huntington’s disease treatment has posted positive results today, announced by trial sponsor uniQure and UCL scientists.

Three UCL academics have received a combined total of over £7 million to support projects in lung cancer research, the link between Parkinson’s and dementia and how brain ageing affects dementia risk.

Researchers across UCL are applying artificial intelligence in powerful ways to accelerate Alzheimer’s diagnosis, track disease progression and develop new treatments.

A major UCL-led clinical trial, aiming to transform the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease through a simple blood test, is now welcoming its first participants who will be recruited via memory clinics across the UK.

Two new studies of former rugby players, involving UCL researchers, found no cases of early-onset dementia but did find potential signs of increased risk of developing dementia later on.

A team of scientists including UCL researchers has tested four anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s therapeutics to find out how the drugs bind to toxic amyloid beta protein to tackle the disease.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has licensed the immunotherapy drug, Lecanemab, for use in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease in the UK, following decades of work supported by UCL research.

Baroness Gillian Merron, the Health Minister responsible for life sciences and innovation toured some of UCL’s life sciences facilities to see first-hand how research is helping to tackle some of the world’s biggest health challenges.