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King's College London
latha

Dr Latha Velayudhan

Clinical Reader in Ageing and Dementia Studies

Research interests

  • Mental Health
  • Psychiatry

Contact details

latha.velayudhan@kcl.ac.uk
02078480544

Biography

Dr Latha Velayudhan is a Clinical Reader in Ageing and Dementia Studies at the Department of Old Age Psychiatry ,e Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), Kings College London (KCL).

Latha is also a Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist at the South London &Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) 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, KCL. 
  • 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 Groups

  • Department of Old Age Psychiatry 
  • Mental Health for Older Adults & Dementia CAG

    Research

    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

    • I teach medical students, MRCPsych students and lecture for MSc courses (Clinical Neuropsychiatry and Psychiatric Research) on topics related to dementia. 
    • I interview and examine medical students at the GKT School of Medicine. 
    • I supervise PhD students, BSc and MSc dissertations.

      Research

      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

      • I teach medical students, MRCPsych students and lecture for MSc courses (Clinical Neuropsychiatry and Psychiatric Research) on topics related to dementia. 
      • I interview and examine medical students at the GKT School of Medicine. 
      • I supervise PhD students, BSc and MSc dissertations.

      Based in