Close
UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology: 75 years of life-changing neuroscience
2 July 2026
UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology is marking 75 years of pioneering research, innovation and education, coinciding with UCL’s bicentennial year.
Queen Square, situated at the edge of UCL’s Bloomsbury campus, brings together UCL and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), the world's first specialised neurological hospital. Since the hospital’s foundation in 1859, Queen Square has become a global hub for research, treatment, and training in neurological conditions, pioneering many new treatments and shaping the field.
The Institute of Neurology was established from the hospital in 1950 as a centre to advance neuroscience research and education, evolving from the National Hospital's existing medical school and research units before becoming part of UCL in August 1997.
Professor Michael Hanna, Director of the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, said: “Queen Square – the institute and the hospital together – are now seen as a world leading centre for innovation and development of therapies. It brings together the best students, the best clinicians and the best scientists to cure brain diseases.”
75 years of breakthroughs
Over the last 75 years, the institute has been at the forefront of neurological discovery – making major breakthroughs across a range of diseases from Alzheimer’s and dementia to stroke and epilepsy.
The institute’s origins within the hospital have created a long-standing research and clinical partnership, setting it apart from other institutions by its ability for scientists and clinicians to be in constant dialogue, accelerating the journey from scientific discovery to real world treatment and ensuring that scientific questions are shaped by real patient needs.
Foundation of modern clot-busting therapies for acute stroke
In the 1970s, a series of pioneering experiments carried out in Professor Lindsay Symon’s laboratory revolutionised stroke care, turning an untreatable condition into one where thousands now receive life-saving interventions each year. Professor Symon’s team discovered the ischaemic penumbra - part of the brain damaged in a stroke that still can be saved if blood flow is restored quickly enough. This led to the development of modern clot-busting therapies for acute stroke, thrombolysis and thrombectomy, changing outcomes for millions of people worldwide in the decades since.
Historic Alzheimer’s breakthrough paved the way for modern therapies
In the early 90s, Professor Sir John Hardy first set out the amyloid hypothesis, which transformed our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and laid the foundation for modern therapies.
His breakthrough stems back to a letter he received from Carol Jennings, who told him about how her father and his sister and brother all developed dementia symptoms and were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in their 50s. By analysing blood samples from her family, Professor Hardy and his team went on to discover a mutation to the amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene, which creates the amyloid plaques that form in the brain during Alzheimer’s disease.
His lab has been based at Queen Square for nearly 20 years and has continued to build on the amyloid hypothesis and contribute to the eventual development of the first generation of disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s.
Professor Hardy said about his years working at the institute: “Queen Square is a really unique, and special, institution. Everybody who comes to work here knows its legacy – that we are standing on the shoulders of giants. Everybody who works here has the same mission. And that mission, whether they're teaching or doing research or seeing patients, their mission is to reduce the burden of neurologic disease.”
Read more about Professor Sir John Hardy’s historic breakthrough here, and listen to him speak about the journey here.
Gene therapy appears to slow Huntington’s disease progression
Just last year, UCL neurologists announced a major breakthrough in Huntington’s disease, providing hope for those affected by this fatal neurodegenerative disease.
The researchers found that patients receiving the treatment experienced 75% less progression of the disease overall, compared to a matched cohort of people with Huntington’s who were not receiving the treatment.
This is the first time a drug trial has reported continuing, statistically significant slowing of Huntington’s progression.
Professor Sarah Tabrizi CBE (UCL Huntington’s Disease Research Centre), lead scientific advisor on the trial, commented: “Advanced therapies give hope for future treatments for previously incurable brain diseases. They're becoming a practical route towards treatment, and Queen Square is helping to drive that change.”
Patients and families in research
These major breakthroughs over 75 years at Queen Square have been possible thanks to the huge contributions made by patients and their families, who have dedicated themselves to helping researchers find new treatments and cures for neurological diseases.
Patient and family involvement is vital to research at Queen Square as it ensures that researchers are designing studies that are most relevant to patient needs and ensures that scientific discoveries translate into meaningful treatments that genuinely improve lives.
Professor Gipi Schiavo, Professor of Cellular Neuroscience at UCL, said: “Our work at the institute starts and ends with patients and their families. Their openness and readiness to take part in research enable our discoveries and foster advances in finding new treatments for devastating neurological conditions treated at Queen Square.”
Research participant May Philips said: “When you take part in research [at Queen Square], you get another family…a research family. When you get a rare dementia diagnosis it can feel really isolating and alone and when you come together and take part in research, straight away you feel less alone. You see a lot of the same familiar faces over the years and they've made me feel special and valued and that my contribution is really important to them.”
The next chapter for Queen Square
Construction is now underway on a new state-of-the-art research and treatment facility on Grays Inn Road, steps away from the institute’s facilities at Queen Square. Opening in 2028, the centre will bring research scientists, clinicians and patients under one roof and will accelerate the discovery of new treatments and further improve training of the next generation of scientists.
This will provide a new home for the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, which launched in 2016 after selecting UCL as its hub, and now comprises 17 group leaders at UCL, with over 100 grants totalling over £65M of active research funding.
Professor Michael Hanna commented: “The next chapter is really exciting. The new building at Grays Inn Road will bring world leading technological infrastructure that will drive innovation, collaboration, and really help to accelerate treatments, which is the ultimate goal here at Queen Square.”
Links
- UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
- UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology at 75
- Key breakthroughs at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
Images
- Top: Dr Zane Jaunmuktane and Toby Curless in the Queen Square Brain Bank
- Middle: UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
- Lower: The world’s first MRI unit dedicated to epilepsy research at the National Society for Epilepsy Centre at Chalfont, a key partner site used by many UCL researchers
Follow us
