We caught up with Professor Chan to ask him about his research, what excites him most about his work and what advice he would give his younger self.
What attracted you to the area of neurodegenerative disease and why is it important?
My PhD was in hippocampal neurobiology and I was lucky enough to work with one of the world’s leading hippocampal scientists, John O’Keefe.
The hippocampus is one of the brain regions first affected in Alzheimer’s disease, and it seemed to me that there would be great value, both for basic as well as clinical science, in determining whether our highly sophisticated understanding of hippocampal function, based on studies of single cell physiology, could be used to develop better tests for detecting Alzheimer’s in its earliest stages. Early detection is crucial, since this would allow application of drugs and other interventions that might be able to delay or even prevent the onset of dementia. At present our tools for early diagnosis are imperfect.
Can you tell us about your current research?
For many years I have been working with UCL hippocampal scientists, most notably John O’Keefe and Neil Burgess, with the aim of developing spatial tests for probing entorhinal cortex-hippocampal function in humans that are based on animal cellular work.
We have shown that VR navigation tasks, based on entorhinal cortex-hippocampal function, can detect Alzheimer’s disease in its very earliest stages, before any decline in memory and decades before dementia onset. This is critically important for identifying that stage in early disease when anti-Alzheimer drugs may be of greatest benefit.
My current research is moving beyond early diagnosis and beginning to explore options to prevent Alzheimer’s disease occurring in the first place. In addition I am heavily involved in the neurotechnology space and am developing new frameworks for neurotechnologies to be used in clinical practice.
What aspect of your work most excites you and why?
Two aspects. First, it is a rare privilege to undertake work that may directly aid patients. Second, collaboration with scientists in other fields. I am lucky enough to work with experts in fields ranging from cellular neurobiology through to design engineers and ethicists. This breadth of knowledge is endlessly nourishing from an academic perspective and multidisciplinary working mitigates against the risk of becoming narrow-minded in one’s research.
What would you say to someone who is considering whether to study cognitive neuroscience at UCL?
The UCL neuroscience community is by some distance the biggest in the UK and one of the biggest and best in the world. This gives undergraduate students an enviable range of options when it comes to taught courses and research modules, while postgraduates have the opportunity to research in world-leading labs. Outside of formal study, the huge number of lectures and symposia and the interdisciplinarity of the research community foster intellectual growth and encourage creative thinking.
What’s the best advice you would give your younger self?
One, always stick to first principles. Two, never just accept what you read or what you are told, especially in medicine, always question. Three, don’t ever make the mistake of thinking you know anything, you don’t. The more you learn, the more you realise the extent of your ignorance. But that is OK; it is the path to wisdom. Four, focus on the big issues that make a difference. And finally, only do things that are fun and rewarding. Life is too short for anything else.
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Biography
Professor Dennis Chan undertook a PhD (1991) in neurobiology in the lab of John O’Keefe at UCL, before completing his medical degree at the University of Cambridge (1993).
After junior medical training he undertook a further research doctorate at the UCL Dementia Research Centre, studying under Martin Rossor and Nick Fox, before accrediting as a consultant neurologist in 2005. He worked at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, then the University of Cambridge, before moving back to UCL.
Translating cellular studies of entorhinal cortex and hippocampal function to clinical practice, Dennis has successfully used app- and VR-based navigation tasks to detect pre-dementia AD. He is also a research lead for a new initiative exploring the use of wearable tech and AI as digital tools for detecting early AD.