King's College London

The School of Neuroscience welcomed King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Chief Executive Officer Professor Clive Kay and Chief Medical Officer Dr Leonie Penna to the Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute to discuss collaborations with King’s College Hospital.

Professor Mark Richardson, Head of School of Neuroscience, led the tour around the Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, one of Europe’s largest centres for interdisciplinary excellence in neuroscience. Located on the Denmark Hill campus of King’s College London, the 6,500 sqm building brings together 250 clinicians and researchers and is home to the Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience.

The visit continued with a tour of the Wohl Cellular Imaging Centre with its director Professor Deepak Srivastava and facility manager Dr George Chennell. Located on the ground floor of the institute, the centre opened in 2017 and is a crucial facility providing cutting-edge light microscopy equipment with image analysis software and workstations to researchers in King’s.

They then met with Professor Sandrine Thuret who explained the breadth of research in the Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience. The department is the biggest in the school, with research ranging from neurodegenerative diseases to cellular functions. Dr Claire Troakes, Coordinator of King’s College London Neurodegenerative Diseases Brain Bank, highlighted the crucial role of the facility in providing patient and control tissues to researchers. Professor Jernej Ule and Dr Sarah Mizielinska represented the UK Dementia Research Institute at King’s, where research looks at the molecular processes underlying Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Discussion continued with clinicians based in the school on the importance of clinical-academic partnerships. Mr Aminul Ahmed, a consultant neurosurgeon at King’s College Hospital, is currently investigating the use of advanced therapeutics for Traumatic Brain Injury. Professor Ray Chaudhuri leads various teams of clinicians and researchers collaborating to address non-motor aspects of Parkinson’s disease. Dr Daniel van Wamelen talked about neuroimaging and non-invasive biomarkers in Huntington’s disease.

The visit ended with a tour of the Biomarker Research and Imaging for Neuroscience (BRAIN) Centre. The centre works closely with the Department of Neuroimaging to facilitate the development of translation biomarkers in neurological and psychiatric disorders. The tour was given by Dr Diana Cash, Centre Manager and Scientific Director, and Professor Steve Williams, Head of Department of Neuroimaging.