I am an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Neurology. My research focuses on brain ageing and the application of longevity medicine to the realm of neurological health and disease. I study ways of measuring "biological age" (including clinical blood biomarkers, DNA methylation signatures and brain MRI) to track the physiological changes that occur during ageing. This framework allow us to consider how individuals age with different trajectories, and consider how therapeutic interventions might influence these paths. In collaboration with colleagues at the Karolinska Institute, I have shown that a higher biological age relative to chronological age increases one's future risk of neurological disorders including stroke and dementia. I am particularly interested in whether the biological age of people with multiple sclerosis is a determinant of remyelination, neurodegeneration and ultimately disability outcomes. I am a co-investigator on the CCMR Two trial, which tests metformin - a drug with promising gerotherapeutic properties - alongside the anti-muscarinic clemastine to encourage remyelination in people with multiple sclerosis.
Myelin tracts in the cerebellum
Neurons (red) ensheathed in myelin (green) in the cerebellum. Remyelination is a remarkable example of regeneration in the human central nervous system, but fails with increasing age.
