Results 1 to 10 of 28
New initiatives at the University of Leeds are putting glycoscience, and its growing impact on neuroscience, firmly on the map. Led by Prof. Jessica Kwok (Neuroglycobiology, FBS), these efforts highlight how glycans shape nervous system function and cell communication, opening new avenues for understanding brain health and disease. To learn more about glycobiology in neuroscience...
Dr. René Frank, who previously led work that visualised protein structure within Alzheimer’s disease brain for the very first time, has teamed up with Ross Paterson (UCL) and a team of international collaborators to explore how Alzheimer’s progresses over many decades and how common genetic risk factors drive disease progression. One of the great challenges...
A recent University of Leeds PhD student graduate, Madeleine Gilbert, has been awarded the UZH-Foundation Brain Diseases Award 2025. This is an international prize recognising PhD student contributions to understanding and treating conditions including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, and other neurological diseases. Madeleine undertook an MRC DiMeN DTP-funded PhD project in the Faculty of Biological Sciences...
Professor Anthony Turner, Emeritus Professor at the University of Leeds, has been awarded the esteemed ESN Bachelard Award 2025 by the European Society for Neurochemistry (ESN). This accolade commemorates Prof. Herman Bachelard's contributions to neurochemistry and recognises distinguished scientists for their significant achievements in the field, particularly those involved in European research institutions, and the...
René Frank and ECR Maddie Gilbert, leading a project in collaboration with Ryan Mathew and Sheena Radford at the University of Leeds, have been awarded £950,000 by the MRC to investigate the blood-brain barrier and neurovascular disease. The neurovascular unit that forms the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a strictly controlled gateway mediating the entry of...
Early career researchers Drs. Shihab Shah and Varinder Lall have successfully secured funding for their pioneering research on pain mechanisms. Dr Varinder Lall has been awarded funding from the Medical Research Council for a £749,000 project titled “Investigating peripheral gating of pain using novel preclinical model”. Dr Lall is a Researcher Co-Lead on this new...
Perceptual constancy allows us to recognize objects consistently, regardless of changes in distance or sensory input. This ability develops in infancy and is essential for understanding our environment. However, until recently, little was known about how the brain acquires this skill. A new study published in Science Advances sheds light on this process. The Johnston...
Three research groups in the School of Biomedical Sciences recently secured new funding: Professor Nikita Gamper leading a MRC Program grant (industrial collaboration Framework) in collaboration with Marzia Malcangio of Kings College London, Mauro Perretti of Queen Mary's University London and Eli Lilly & Co has acquired funding for a £3.5 million project to explore...
A new study by Dr Marine Krzisch has identified the role of the brain's immune system in Parkinson's disease. Microglia are brain cells that defend the brain against pathogens. In Parkinson’s disease, microglia get activated: they become hyper-alert, and it is thought they damage neurons. However, their exact role had remained unclear. In this study,...
The Frank group investigating Alzheimer’s disease has determined the structure of molecules within a human brain for the very first time. Published in Nature, the study describes using cryo-electron tomography, guided by fluorescence microscopy, to explore deep inside an Alzheimer’s disease donor brain. This gave 3-dimensional maps in which they could observe proteins, the molecular building blocks of...