Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases MPhil/PhD, MD(Res)

The Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases (WCARD) is part of the Division of Neuroscience within the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN). Research in the WCARD focuses on the maintenance of a healthy nervous system during aging, by understanding how its activity changes during damage to nerves and the surrounding tissues, and investigating new techniques to repair damaged neurons. Our long-term goal is to improve the quality of life of patients affected by lifelong and age-related diseases of the nervous system. Our research is geared towards i) understanding physiological and molecular mechanisms that drive disease conditions and ii) harness our scientific knowledge to develop new therapeutic strategies to restore normal sensory function and to better repair injury.

Currently, our 4 major research themes are:

1). Chronic Pain: Delineating new pathways and mechanisms of chronic pain to allow us to identify innovative targets in neurons and non-neuronal cell.

2). Regeneration: Aiming to restore function after CNS injury by developing regenerative therapies that target the ongoing inflammation and glial scar to facilitate endogenous repair mechanisms.

3). Hearing: Studying the genetics of age-related hearing loss in humans and mice to understand the pathological mechanisms that drive this process.

4). Migraine: Delineating the underlying mechanisms and novel therapeutic targets for migraine and related primary headache disorders from bench to bedside and back.

Researchers in all 4 themes are actively seeking PhD students to join their projects.

We specialise in using electrophysiology and imaging techniques (e.g. patch-clamp; fMRI/micro-PET; genetic indicators of neuronal activity; in situ hybridization; in-vivo electrophysiology) with sequencing and bioinformatics (e.g. RNAseq, microarray, machine learning) on translational models of human disease (e.g. neuropathic pain, migraine, stroke, spinal cord injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, arthritis, fibromyalgia) to better understand disease processes. The results of these studies then inform a drug discovery process to develop innovative therapeutics.

Key benefits

• Interaction with internationally renowned neuroscience researchers both within the WCARD and as presenters at our research seminars.
• Friendly and collaborative research environment
• Partnerships with hospitals, industrial collaborators and other research centres
• PhD students have the opportunity to develop their research skills in the WCARD, and also have access to transferable skills training through the KCL Centre for Doctoral Studies
• We encourage our PhD students to develop their education skills through involvement in tutorials and laboratory demonstrations for undergraduate and taught post-graduate students in the departments of Biochemistry, Neuroscience, Pharmacology and Physiology

Over the last two decades, there have been tremendous advances in our understanding of the molecules and principles that govern the functioning of the nervous system. Great progress has been made to understand the molecular basis of disease states and pain, and the molecular mechanisms that limit regeneration. These advances enable innovative neuroscience and the opportunity to translate new knowledge into clinical benefits

Our mission is to:

• Further understand the causes of chronic pain, including migraine, identify new drug targets, develop treatments and monitor outcomes.
• Study neuronal receptors and neuronal signalling mechanisms to promote symptomatic relief from the pain and dysfunction associated with a damaged nervous system.
• Develop and test strategies aimed at restoring function to the damaged nervous system by promoting cell survival and resolution of inflammation

Our PhD students are an essential part of our research work, but every project and every studentship is different. A list of publications, research grants and researchers from the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases can be found here.