Dementia

Ignacia Azocar

Full-time PhD Student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Older Adult Mental Health | Mood Disorders | Global Mental Health | Psychosocial

Ella Burchill

Academic Foundation Doctor, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Neuroscience |  Serious Mental Illness | Older Adult Mental Health

Alexandra Burton

Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Epidemiology and Health

I currently lead on the qualitative component of the Shaper-PND implementation trial to explore the experiences of new mothers with postnatal depression who take part in group singing sessions. I am also working on studies that explore the impact of social isolation on health and well-being during the covid-19 pandemic.

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Physical Health

Marc Aurel Busche

Programme Leader at the UK DRI and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Queen Square, Queen Square Institute of Neurology

Other research interests include

Neuroscience | Older Adult Mental Health | Cognition

Dorina Cadar     

Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Epidemiology & Health Cognition 

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Neuroscience | Psychosocial  

Christine Carter

Full time PhD student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Older Adult Mental Health | Physical Health | Wellbeing | Global Mental Health | Psychosocial | Cognition

Justin Chan

PhD student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Wellbeing | Older Adult Mental Health | Cognition

George Chapman

Academic Clinical Fellow, Division of Psychiatry    

Other research interests include

Dementia | Neuroscience | Older Adult Mental Health | Serious Mental Illness  | Pharmacology

Ping-Jen Chen 

PhD Training Fellow, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Older Adult Mental Health | Physical Health

Richard Cole

PhD student, Queen Square Institute of Neurology

Other research interests include

Cognition

Claudia Cooper

Professor of Psychiatry of Older Age, Division of Psychiatry

I am interested in the epidemiology of older people's mental health, happiness and wellbeing, and in the mental health of carers of people with dementia. Other research interests include elder abuse - its epidemiology and prevention; and the provision of quality and equality in dementia care.

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Psychological Interventions | Cognition | Qualitative Research

David Curtis

Honorary Professor, Division of Biosciences

Since 1990 I collaborated with Hugh Gurling at the UCL Molecular Psychiatry Lab in research aimed at identifying genes affecting risk of mental illness. Initially we carried out linkage studies of families multiply affected with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Subsequently I have been involved in association studies and latterly studies using next generation sequencing data. Throughout this time I have also developed new statistical approaches and have written computer software to carry out genetic analyses. I am currently working on methods for detecting genetic variants affecting risk of complex diseases using large exome-sequenced datasets.

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Neuroscience | Serious Mental Illness

Neil Davies

Professor of Medical Statistics, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Children and Young People's Mental Health | Cognition |Digital Health | Epidemiology | Physical Health | Psychosocial

Stephen Fleming

Sir Henry Dale Fellow, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Neuroscience | Mood Disorders | Psychological Interventions | Cognition

Sabina Funk

Research Associate, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Cognition | Global Mental Health | Mood Disorders | Neuroscience | Older Adult Mental Health | Psychological Interventions | Wellbeing

Sergi Costafreda Gonzalez

Associate Professor, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness | Mood Disorders | Older Adult Mental Health | Cognition

Rebecca Gould

Associate Professor, Division of Psychiatry

My main research interests are in evaluating psychological interventions such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and mindfulness-based therapies for: i) older people with mental health conditions (including anxiety and depression); ii) people with neurodegenerative diseases (including dementia and motor neuron disease); iii) carers of people with neurodegenerative diseases; and iv) people with physical health conditions. Other research interests include examining the assessment of frailty in older people with mental health conditions, and evaluating psychological interventions for this population.

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Older Adult Mental Health | Physical Health | Mood Disorders

Ishtar Govia

Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Advanced Studies

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Global Mental Health | Physical Health | Wellbeing | Psychological Interventions | Pychosocial | Health and Social Care | Cognition | Integrated Approaches | Multimorbidity

Laura Grover

Research Assistant, Queen Square Institute of Neurology

Other research interests include

Older Adult Mental Health | Mood Disorders | Epidemiology | Neuroscience

Marjan Jahanshahi

Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Queen Square Institute of Neurology

Our current areas of research interest are:
1. Role of the basal ganglia in motor control, cognition and motivation and the modulatory influence of dopamine investigated through study of patients with disorders of the basal ganglia and the effect of subortical surgery.
2. Modulation of movement speed by attention and motivation in health and disease
3. Impact of movement disorders such as Parkinsons disease and dystonia on the psychosocial functioning and quality of life of the patients and their carers and more recently the effect of chronic neurological illness of a parent on their children.
We adopt a multi-technique approach and use neuropsychology, functional imaging, electrophysiological recording, and TMS in our research.

Other research interests include

Older Adult Mental Health | Physical Health | Cognition | Psychosocial

Christian Lambert

Principal Research Associate/Honorary Consultant Neurologist, Queen Square Institute of Neurology

Other research interests include

Cognition | Neuroscience | Parkinson's disease and Parkinsonian syndromes

Rick Livesey

Professor of Stem Cell Biology, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health

Other research interests include

Neuroscience | Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Gill Livingston

Professor of Psychiatry of Older People, Division of Psychiatry

I lead the Lancet standing committee on dementia prevention, intervention and care.

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Older Adult Mental Health | Psychosocial | Cognition

Natalie Marchant

Senior Research Fellow, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Neuroscience | Older Adult Mental Health | Cognition

Vasiliki Orgeta

Associate Professor, Division of Psychiatry

Dr Vasiliki Orgeta is a research psychologist interested in emotional well-being in people with dementia and their family carers. Her research focuses on the development and evaluation of  psychological and psychosocial interventions in dementia and mild cognitive impairment. She is also interested in how stress could be influencing risk of dementia and the effect of caregiving on caregivers physical and mental health.

Other research interests include

Wellbeing | Physical Health | Psychosocial | Older Adult Mental Health | Neuroscience | Epidemiology | Psychological Interventions | Mood Disorders | Cognition

Panayiota Petrochilos

Consultant Neuropsychiatrist and Department lead for Neuropsychiatry, Queen Square Institute of Neurology

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Neuroscience | Cognition| Psychological Interventions

Liam Pikett

Research Assistant, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Children and Young People's Mental Health | Cognition

Gary Price

Consultant Neuropsychiatrist , Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Neuroscience | Psychological Interventions | Cognition | Pharmacology

Jessica Rees

PhD Student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Older Adult Mental Health | Physical Health | Wellbeing

Philippa Renouf

Research Assistant, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Wellbeing | Older Adult Mental Health | Psychological Interventions | Cognition

Elizabeth Sampson

Clinical Professor, Division of Psychiatry

My research focuses on key clinical issues for frail older people. My main areas of interest are:

• Dementia and delirium in acute hospital patients: Epidemiology and health services research 
• Identifying, better understanding and managing common symptoms, including pain, delirium and difficulty swallowing. 
• Using mixed methods (data, cohort studies co-design) to implement better care.
• Liaison psychiatry for older hospital inpatients

Other research interests include

Older Adult Mental Health | Physical Health | Liaison Psychiatry | Neuroscience

Joseph Sawyer

Academic Clinical Fellow, Division of Psychiatry

My research focuses on novel public health approaches to palliative care with particular reference to those people affected by dementia. My current research uses realist evaluation methods to understand the impact of naturally occurring community instigated care on the following areas:

• the identity and agency of a person with dementia
• the care-giving process, as experienced by those involved
• the promotion of self sufficiency and community development 

Karin Shmueli

Associate Professor in MRI, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering

I am interested in developing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques to increase image contrast and resolution by exploiting new contrast mechanisms. The current goal of my research programme is to characterise frequency and susceptibility contrasts and to develop and translate MRI techniques exploiting these mechanisms to improve disease diagnosis and monitoring of therapies. Conventional MRI uses only the signal magnitude, but utilising the frequency (or phase) of the MRI signal has dramatically improved visualisation of tissue structure and can reveal tissue composition. During my previous post at the USA National Institutes of Health, I developed new methods to calculate tissue magnetic susceptibility maps from MRI frequency images. MRI tissue Susceptibility Mapping is an exciting technique and a rapidly growing research area. Together with my research group and collaborators, I now aim to unlock the potential of these MRI frequency and susceptibility methods to generate clinical MRI biomarkers of disease.

Other research interests include

Neuroscience | Physical Health | Children and Young People's Mental Health | Cognition

Andrew Sommerlad

Principal Research Fellow, Division of Psychiatry

Dr Sommerlad uses multiple methodologies including observational research using longitudinal cohorts and routinely collected electronic health records, qualitative research, systematic review and meta-analysis to examine clinically relevant outcomes in dementia and cognition for older people.

Other research interests include

Neuroscience | Epidemiology | Older Adult Mental Health | Cognition

Aimee Spector

Professor of Old Age Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

My research broadly focuses on the development and evaluation of psychosocial interventions and outcome measures for people with dementia. My recent research has taken a more global focus, for example I lead an MRC funded implementation trial of CST in Brazil, India and Tanzania. I work closely with colleagues from Hong Kong University and Peking University through formal strategic partnerships, with several joint projects adapting and evaluating psychosocial interventions for dementia (including digital interventions) and cultural adaptations of outcome measures. I have developed and published a range of outcome measures including measures of dementia knowledge, sense of competence, hope and resilience, and independence and engagement.

Other research interests include

Cognition | Global Mental Health | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial

Jean Stafford

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Division of Psychiatry

My research is broadly focused on dementia and the mental health of older people. In my PhD, I investigated the incidence of very late-onset psychotic disorders in Swedish register, while during my postdoctoral fellowship I examined associations between psychiatric disorders and subsequent dementia.

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness | Epidemiology | Older Adult Mental Health

Zuyu Wang    

PhD student, Division of Psychiatry    

Other research interests include

Cognition | Epidemiology | Health and Social Care | Psychological Interventions

Lucy Webster

Research Associate, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Older Adult Mental Health | Psychological Interventions | Epidemiology | Cognition

Jennifer Wenborn

Senior Clinical Research Associate - Occupational Therapist, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Psychosocial | Older Adult Mental Health | Wellbeing | Cognition

Emily West

Research Fellow, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Older Adult Mental Health | Psychosocial | Cognition

Sedigheh Zabihi

Research Assistant, Division of Psychiatry

I studies my MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences at UCL, Division of Psychiatry and I received my BSc in Clinical Psychology from University of Tehran

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Global Mental Health | Psychosocial | Cognition

Kristina Zhelcheska 

PhD student, Queen Square Institute of Neurology    

Other research interests include

Dementia | Cognition | Children and Young People's Mental Health | Neuroscience | Older Adult Mental Health | Trauma | Mood Disorders