Research
First Group Leader announced at flagship vascular dementia research centre
We are pleased to announce that Dr Rikesh Rajani has been appointed as the first of four group leaders at the BHF-UK DRI Centre for Vascular Dementia Research.
The flagship £9 million joint centre is the first in the UK dedicated to research into vascular dementia, the second most common type of dementia.
Dr Rajani’s lab will investigate how the protective myelin sheath around brain cells is damaged in small vessel disease – the leading cause of vascular dementia. The lab will begin its work in April and will be based in Edinburgh.
Invaluable expertise
Professor Bryan Williams, our Chief Scientific and Medical Officer said: “We're delighted to welcome Rikesh to the BHF-UKDRI Centre for Vascular Dementia Research.
“As one of the Centre’s four group leaders, he will bring invaluable expertise in Alzheimer’s disease and white matter changes in the brain to study vascular dementia. The Rajani lab will shed light on the causes and drivers of vascular dementia and help to progress the Centre’s search for new treatments for this devastating but little-known condition.”
Important contributions
Most recently, Dr Rajani’s research at University College London has focused on Alzheimer’s disease. With his new appointment, he is turning his focus back to vascular dementia.
Dr Rajani said: “One of the key hallmarks of small vessel disease is loss of white matter – the nerve fibres that are coated in myelin – in the brain. But we don’t really know what causes this. It’s important because the white matter damage actually correlates with cognitive decline. My lab at the BHF-UK DRI Centre for Vascular Dementia Research aims to work out exactly what is causing this white matter damage, and how brain activity levels are affected.”
Professor David Attwell, Director of the BHF-UK DRI Centre for Vascular Dementia Research, said: “Rikesh is a very talented scientist who has already made important contributions to dementia research. I look forward to seeing how his studies develop in the new Centre funded by the BHF and UK-DRI, which aims to apply results from basic science research to underpin new clinical approaches to treating dementia.”
Image above is from Rikesh Rajani's research. Specialised human cells (oligodendrocytes) in a dish (green) produce the amyloid beta protein which is implicated in Alzheimer's disease.