Dr Richard Rees

Clinical Research Associate

Clinical and Movement Neurosciences

UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology

Joined UCL: 3rd Aug 2016

Research summary

I am currently working on the PREDICT-PD study with Prof Schrag (UCL, Institute of Neurology), and Dr Noyce (QMUL, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine). This is a study that seeks to identify healthy older adults at risk of developing Parkinson's Disease.

Having successfully piloted the study with over 1300 participants, we are preparing to expand to 10,000 participants. This will be the largest such study in the world.

I am working on my PhD in clinical neuroscience and my particular interest is using imaging biomarkers to identify the earliest stages of Parkinson's pathology - before the identifiable motor stage starts. I will be using SPECT (DaTSCAN), advanced MRI and Transcranial Sonography in randomly selected participants of the PREDICT-PD study, to correlate their imaging findings with their risk scores.

Teaching summary

Dr Rees has had a strong interest in teaching since medical school. He has been a mentor for medical students, and has delivered bedside and small group clinical teaching.

Working with Capt Higton, he has run seminars on Human Factors and Patient Safety for junior doctors and has developed this area of teaching as a simulation training facilitator using hi-fidelity medical simulation suites.

He continues to give regular bedside teaching and seminars to the UCL MBPhD program and UCLH junior doctors. He also teaches on courses to help junior doctors pass the MRCP PACES examination.

Biography

Dr Rees gained his MBPhD from the University of Sheffield in 2011. He also has a BSc in International Health from the University of Leeds, Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development.

His junior medical training was based at University College London Hospital as well as Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals (now part of the Royal Free). He then did his general physician training back at UCLH, before moving to Imperial Hospitals NHS trust as a Neurology Registrar for a year.

Working with Professor Morris, he was awarded the Guarantors of Brain Entry Fellowship. He spent 1 year investigating the genetic risk of Impulse Control Disorders in people with Parkinson's Disease. He undertook candidate gene and Genome Wide Association Studies using the PRoBaND/Tracking Parkinson's cohort.

Publications