UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences

@uclbrainscience.bsky.social

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We are a global leader in research and education into the mind and brain. www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences

Photograph of Professor Andrew Dick, incoming Dean of the UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences
Reads: Looking back over your career, what do you consider to be your biggest breakthrough? "During my PhD, I discovered that subtracting one brain scan from another revealed tiny changes over time, a method that shaped my career and showed that Alzheimer’s begins years before symptoms." Professor Nick Fox
As we look ahead, we are reminded that our greatest strength lies in our people, researchers, clinicians, and students from around the world, united by our ambition to improve lives. Together, our extraordinary community will continue to push boundaries, transform care, and drive discoveries for many years to come.
Parts of the brain that are needed to remember words identified by UCL team of neurologists and neurosurgeons
UCL researchers develop ultra-fast MRI scans for dementia, cutting scan time from 30 minutes to under seven
Life-changing microchip helps blind patients read again
UCL led trial aims to transform Alzheimer’s diagnosis with simple blood test
UCL researchers develop a new AI-assisted brain atlas that can help visualise the human brain in unprecedented detail
Long Covid patients who lost sense of smell can be helped with surgery find UCL researchers
Genetic therapy gives infants life-changing improvements in sight
UCL researchers slow the progression of Huntington’s disease for the first time with a groundbreaking new treatment
The training and supervision I received during the course gave me a strong research foundation and the confidence to pursue an academic career.
For many, music therapy facilitated social connections, which were often challenging for patients with communication difficulties, such as aphasia. These shared musical experiences provided a sense of connection that might be otherwise difficult to achieve.
Blood pressure control is probably the most important risk factor to diagnose and treat to prevent first and recurrent strokes. If everybody regularly checked for and treated their blood pressure and the irregular heartbeat of atrial fibrillation from mid-life onwards then many strokes could be prevented.
I hope taking part in the trial means I will never have to experience another relapse and that my MS symptoms will not progress. I know it is still experimental but it offers a scientific rationale which, as a biology teacher, makes sense to me.
AI technology presents a critical opportunity in healthcare, where instead of merely treating the disease, it ushers in a new era where we can treat the patient in a more individual way.
We are prioritising drugs that already show promise as potential treatments, based on an extensive review of prior evidence, as we seek to identify a drug that does more than just provide symptom relief for Parkinson’s. We hope this trial will serve as a blueprint for future trials in Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative conditions.
When I began recording the activity of neurons, it seemed like magic: we would shine a stimulus in front of the eyes, and the neurons in the visual cortex would spring to life. It still feels magical, 35 years later.
We need awareness in the workplace so that support and reasonable adjustments can be made for dyslexic adults. In line with this, we need to remove any stigma there might be about disclosing a dyslexia diagnosis. We know that dyslexia is not related to intelligence yet, for some, this myth persists.
Researchers must work collaboratively with the communities they aim to involve in their studies – starting from shaping the research question, continuing through to the study’s design and implementation, and ensuring meaningful follow-up once the research concludes. This kind of partnership fosters trust, enhances the relevance of the research to those communities, and ultimately leads to greater engagement and participation.
The real test is marrying the knowledge between artificial intelligence models with the expert information we have from genetic, clinical, and disease biology. If we get enough people trained in both fields simultaneously, it could propel this area exponentially over the next few years.