News archive 2009

Time Magazine Top Ten

22 Dec 2009, PR 276/09

A study by an international research group including researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, has made TIME Magazine’s prestigious Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs list for 2009. 



TIME Magazine cited research by Professor Simon Lovestone, Professor John Powell, Petra Proitsi and Michelle Lupton who contributed to the collaboration, led by Professor Julie Williams, Cardiff University, on the largest ever Alzheimer's genome study which identified a new set of genes that may contribute to the disorder. Two groups of researchers, working separately, homed in on three genes linked to the late-onset form of the disease, the type that hits people in their 60s or later.

Two of the genes are known to interact with the amyloid-protein plaques that build up in the brain of Alzheimer’s sufferers and will cause nerve-cell death and cognitive problems. The third affects the junction of nerve cells, where various neurochemicals work to relay signals from one nerve cell to another.

Professor Lovestone said: ‘We are delighted Time Magazine chose to highlight this exciting research. Our findings point the way forward for new understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and are the culmination of over a decade of close collaboration between Cardiff University, King's College London and increasingly with many other groups around the world.'



Notes to editors

Time Magazine is read by over 4 million people worldwide. Other medical breakthroughs in their annual list include a possible AIDS vaccine, an H1N1 vaccine and the halting of osteoporosis. Their article can be viewed here:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/

King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher Education 2009) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has more than 21,000 students from nearly 140 countries, and more than 5,700 employees. King's is in the second phase of a £1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.

King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £450 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.



Further information
Public Relations Department
Email: pr@kcl.ac.uk
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