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Latha  Velayudhan

Dr Latha Velayudhan

Clinical Reader in Ageing and Dementia Studies

Research interests

  • Mental Health
  • Psychiatry

Biography

Latha Velayudhan is Clinical Reader in Ageing and Dementia Studies Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London.

Latha is also a Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist at the South London &Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and leads the Lewisham Memory Service.

Latha is a clinician-academic with research interests in dementia, specifically Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Her main research work includes identification of biomarkers (clinical, blood and neuroimaging) for AD, young onset dementia, investigating risk factors for cognitive impairment and conducting clinical trials, currently using cannabinoid medications for neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's disease, with the objective of translating the understanding and outcomes into routine clinical practice.

Her clinical research interest also includes studying smell identification dysfunction in Alzheimer's dementia.

Awards:

  • Highly Commended award from the National Care Coordination Association Good Practice Awards for the Young Onset Dementia Mobile Application (YOD app) for the category “Innovation to Support Service Development”, 2016, Ellesmere Port, UK.
  • Highly Commended Excellent Idea/ Innovation Award for the YOD app at the Celebrating Excellence Awards 2016, LPT, UK. 
  • Lacey French Travel Award to attend and present at International Conference of Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD) 2011, Paris, France.
  • Travel Fellowship awarded by the ICAD to attend and present at ICAD 2010 Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
  • Travel award from Alzheimer’s Research Trust 2010. 
  • Denis Hill Prize 2008 proxime accessit, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London
  • MRC Preparatory Clinician Scientist Fellowship 2007.

Research Interests

  • Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
  • Blood based biomarkers 
  • Clinical trials 
  • Mild cognitive impairment 
  • Neuropsychiatric symptoms 
  • Neuroimaging 
  • Olfaction

    Research

    brain-training-1
    Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing

    The centre supports the development of biomarkers in neurocognitive disorders, and novel strategies to support the early diagnosis of AD and related disorders.

    Untitled design-6
    Cannabidiol for Parkinson’s Disease Psychosis (CAN-PDP) Trial

    Multi-centre trial of cannabidiol (CBD) for the treatment of Parkinson's disease psychosis

    Project status: Ongoing

    PONS Centre banner brain scan
    NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Brain Health

    National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) HealthTech Research Centre, designed to accelerate the advancement of cutting-edge technology to better understand brain health and ageing and help people live healthier lives for longer.

      Research

      brain-training-1
      Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing

      The centre supports the development of biomarkers in neurocognitive disorders, and novel strategies to support the early diagnosis of AD and related disorders.

      Untitled design-6
      Cannabidiol for Parkinson’s Disease Psychosis (CAN-PDP) Trial

      Multi-centre trial of cannabidiol (CBD) for the treatment of Parkinson's disease psychosis

      Project status: Ongoing

      PONS Centre banner brain scan
      NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Brain Health

      National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) HealthTech Research Centre, designed to accelerate the advancement of cutting-edge technology to better understand brain health and ageing and help people live healthier lives for longer.