Professor Catherine Hall appointed as final Group Leader at the BHF-UKDRI Centre for Vascular Dementia Research

Professor Hall joins from the University of Sussex, where she will maintain a part time position. At the BHF-UK DRI Centre, Prof Hall and her team will examine how changes in blood flow and oxygen supply might drive the onset of vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, by studying how reduced blood flow or brain oxygen levels affect neurons and blood vessels in mice.  

 

The lab will focus on brain regions known to be sensitive to damage during Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia, such as the hippocampus and white matter.  

Professor Hall explains, “Neurons need oxygen and glucose to fuel their activity. To balance their supply and demand, they signal to nearby blood vessels to dilate and increase blood flow, and therefore the amount of oxygen supplied to the tissue.  

 

“We’re interested in how this happens during normal brain function and how brains respond when this balance is tipped and there isn’t enough oxygen. We think this is important early during diseases like vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s, because a decrease in blood or oxygen supply is a common feature of really early disease stages, and low levels of oxygen can promote the accumulation of protein aggregates observed later in dementia.  

 

“By understanding how this decrease in energy supply affects the brain, we hope to be able to identify new targets to prevent or delay the onset of dementia”  

 

Professor Hall has worked on processes controlling energy supply and use by the brain for over 20 years. After completing her PhD at UCL, she held a postdoc position in Prof David Attwell’s lab (UCL). There, she studied how nitric oxide signalling affects oxygen consumption in the brain, how nitric oxide and other signalling molecules interact to control blood flow regulation in the smallest blood vessels in the brain, and how this regulation is impaired after stroke. 

Professor Bryan Williams, our Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, said: “We’re very pleased to welcome Catherine to the BHF-UKDRI Centre for Vascular Dementia Research to complete the world-leading team at the Centre.  

 

"Changes to blood flow and oxygen supply in the brain are key factors in the development of vascular dementia. Catherine’s expertise in this area, and her research to understand more about it, will be crucial to develop new ways of treating this condition.      

 

“We look forward to seeing Catherine and our other outstanding group leaders drive the next breakthroughs in vascular dementia research.”   

 

Professor David Attwell, CVDR Centre Director, said: “It’s great to welcome Catherine Hall, and her wide-ranging expertise in studying brain blood flow, to the Centre for Vascular Dementia Research. Catherine will join a group of seven other scientists studying diverse aspects of Vascular Dementia in this Centre, which will formally be launched this year.  

 

“Investment by the British Heart Foundation and by the UK Dementia Research Institute in this Centre is aimed at developing an understanding of, and eventually therapies for, Vascular Dementia.”