People
Our talented scientists at the Neuroscience Institute are united under one goal – to unlock the mysteries of the nervous system and halt, prevent or reverse neurological conditions that can have debilitating effects on patients and their families. Get in touch to collaborate or find out more.
Director
Professor Dame Pamela Shaw
Professor of Neurology
Neurodegeneration, motor neurone disease, improvement of patient care, gene therapy, drug development, screening methodology, clinical trials, genetics of motor neurone disease
Research theme leads
Translational Neuroscience
Theme lead: Professor Oliver Bandmann, Professor of Movement Disorders Neurology
Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Wilson disease, dystonia, mitochondrial dysfunction, mitochondrial biomarkers
Theme co-lead: Professor Robert Perneczky, Professor of Translational Dementia Research
Alzheimer’s Disease, Frontotemporal Dementia, fluid biomarkers, neuroimaging, dementia prevention, early diagnosis, disease-modifying treatments
Sensory and Developmental
Theme lead: Professor Walter Marcotti, Professor of Sensory Neuroscience, Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator
Development and function of mammalian cochlear hair cells
Theme Co-lead: Professor Marysia Placzek, Professor in Developmental Neurobiology
Development of the hypothalamus; homeostasis in health and disease
Cognitive and Mental Health
Theme leads: Professor Markus Reuber, Professor of Clinical Neurology
Non-epileptic attack disorder (NEAD), psychosocial and neuropsychological aspects of epilepsy, doctor-patient communication
Theme Co-lead: Dr Myles Jones, Senior Lecturer in Psychology
Non-invasive functional neuroimaging techniques, cerebral hemodynamics, imaging data, stimulus-evoked neural activity, “resting-state” neuroimaging data
Translational neuroscience
Dr James Alix
Senior Clinical Lecturer in Neurophysiology
Diagnosis, disease monitoring, electrophysiological techniques, perinatal brain injury
Dr Scott Allen
Lecturer in Neuroscience
Energy generation pathways of the CNS (central nervous system), metabolic pathway, metabolic response to cellular stress, metabolic response to ageing
Professor Oliver Bandmann
Professor of Movement Disorders Neurology
Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Wilson disease, dystonia, mitochondrial dysfunction, mitochondrial biomarkers
Professor Ivana Barbaric
Professor of Stem Cell Biology
Mitochondrial-based diseases and disease modeling using human pluripotent stem cells, regenerative medicine approaches to degenerative diseases
Dr Daniel Blackburn
Senior Lecturer in Neurology
Post-stroke dementia, diagnostic tests, electroencephalography (EEG), conversation analysis
Dr Daniel Bose
Sir Henry Dale Research Fellow/Lecturer
Mechanisms of non-coding genetic mutations in ALS, RNA biology, epigenetics and chromatin modifications.
Professor Beining Chen
Professor of Medicinal Chemistry
Use of computer aided molecular design and combinatorial chemistry to facilitate drug design and molecular recognition studies.
Dr Mark Collins
Senior Lecturer in Biological Mass Spectrometry
Neurodegeneration, motor neurone disease, neuroproteomics, clinical proteomics, mass spectrometry
Dr Johnathan Cooper-Knock
NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Neurology
Genetic variants of motor neurone disease, C9ORF72 gene, gene expression profiling, hybridisation technique
Dr Suman De
SITraN fellow
Neurodegeneration, disease mechanism, protein aggregation and spread, development of biomarkers, super-resolution and single-molecule imaging
Professor Kurt De Vos
Professor in Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience
Mechanisms of neuronal cell death, axonal transport, mitochondria and ER/mitochondria contacts, and protein homeostasis/autophagy
Professor Mark Dickman
Professor of Biological Mass Spectrometry
Mechanisms of gene expression, biomanufacturing and characterisation of therapeutics, proteomics, bioanalytics, post-translational modifications, mass spectrometry
Professor Laura Ferraiuolo
Professor of Translational Neurobiology
Glia, gene therapy, interaction between astrocytes and oligodendrocytes
Dr Andrew Grierson
Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience
Regulation of axonal transport, vertebrate models of neurodegeneration
Dr Noémie Hamilton
Junior Fellow in Neuroinflammation
Neuroinflammation, Microglia, Zebrafish models of white matter disorders, MRI
Professor Guillaume Hautbergue
Professor of Translational RNA Biology
Gene expression, RNA biology, neurodegeneration, pathophysiology, therapeutic strategies, gene therapy.
Dr Channa Hewamadduma
Consultant Neurologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer
Neuro genetics, clinical and cellular biomarker search in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, Phase II and III clinical trials Neuromuscular and motor neuronal disorders.
Contact Dr Hewamadduma - chewamadduma1@sheffield.ac.uk
Dr Robin Highley
Senior Clinical Lecturer in Neuropathology
Neuropathology and pathophysiology of neurodegeneration
Dr Esther Hobson
NIHR Lecturer in Neurology
Clinical care, telehealth, symptomatic excess saliva, patient experience
Dr Izzy Jayasinghe
Senior Lecturer
Clinical super-resolution microscopy, calcium signalling, pain sensory neurons, nanoscale optical diagnostics
Professor Sherif el Khamisy
Professor of Molecular Medicine
Mechanisms of DNA damage and repair
Professor Janine Kirby
Professor of Neurogenetics
Genetics of motor neurone disease, gene expression profiling, pathogenic mechanisms of neurodegeneration
Dr Matthew Livesey
Research Fellow
Physiological dysfunction associated with neurological disease, electrophysiology, human stem cell technology, oligodendrocyte function
Dr Jennifer MacRitchie
Senior Research Fellow
Dementia, music, skill acquisition
Professor Arshad Majid
Professor of Cerebrovascular Neurology
Translational cerebrovascular disease, ischaemic preconditioning, large animal (ovine) models of stroke, clinical outcomes research, clinical trials, stroke epidemiology, translational bioengineering
Dr Matteo De Marco
Lecturer in Neuroscience of Dementia
Neuroimaging, cognitive functioning, Alzheimer's disease, normal ageing, cognitive stimulation, effect of genetic polymorphisms on neural structure and function, machine-learning diagnostic classification
Professor Christopher McDermott
Professor of Translational Neurology
Improvement of patient care, mechanisms of neurodegeneration, motor neurone disease, hereditary spastic paraplegia
Dr Alisdair McNeill
Senior Lecturer in Clinical Genetics (INSIGNEO)
Genetic cause of neurological disorders, phenotyping, clinical genetics testing
Dr Richard Mead
Senior Lecturer in Translational Neuroscience
CNS drug discovery, preclinical models of neurodegeneration, translational biomarkers NRF2-ARE pathway, neuroinflammation.
Professor Ivan Minev
Automatic Control and Systems Engineering
Bioelectronic interfaces, neural implants, electrode arrays, 3D printing, soft and conductive biomaterials
Professor Heather Mortiboys
Professor of Cellular Neuroscience and Metabolism
Mitochondrial function, DNA, morphology, recycling, Parkinson’s Disease
Dr Ke Ning
Senior Lecturer in Translational Neuroscience
Viral vector-mediated gene therapy, stem cell strategies, PTEN/PI3 Kinase pathway, in vitro and in vivo neuronal survival
Professor Robert Perneczky
Professor of Translational Dementia Research
Alzheimer’s Disease, Frontotemporal Dementia, fluid biomarkers, neuroimaging, dementia prevention, early diagnosis, disease-modifying treatments
Dr Jessica Redgrave
Consultant in Stroke Neurology
Carotid plaque instability, red blood cell membrane cholesterol, delays in seeking medical assistance for strokes and TIA
Professor Markus Reuber
Professor of Clinical Neurology
Non-epileptic attack disorder (NEAD), psychosocial and neuropsychological aspects of epilepsy, doctor-patient communication
Professor Ipsita Roy
Professor of Biomaterials
Natural Polymers of bacterial origin and their use in medical and environmentally friendly applications.
Dr Dinesh Selvarajah
Senior Clinical Lecturer in Diabetes
Advanced magnetic resonance neuroimaging in diabetic neuropathy. Central and peripheral biomarkers for peripheral neuropathy. Phase 2B and 3 clinical trials
Dr Tatyana Shelkovnikova
MND Association Senior Non-Clinical Fellow
RNA metabolism in MND, RNA-protein complexes (granules) in MND, stress granules, paraspeckles, RNA-focussed drug discovery
Dr Julie Simpson
Senior Lecturer in Neuropathology
Neuroinflammation, age-associated white matter pathology, immunohistological characterisation, gene expression profiling
Dr Rosie Staniforth
Lecturer in Biochemistry
Molecular mechanism of amyloid formation, therapeutic intervention in Alzheimer's disease, Protein body formation in ALS, protein biochemistry, spectroscopy, structural biology
Professor Li Su
Professor of Neuroimaging
Innovative and original computational methods and state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques to understand, detect and develop treatments for neurological and psychiatric conditions.
Dr Anestis Tsakiridis
Fellow in Stem Cell Biology
Spinal cord/peripheral nervous system development, in vitro differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells, disease modelling, cell replacement
Dr Alison Twelvetrees
Fellow in Neurobiology
Microtubule transport machinery, neuronal trafficking, mechanisms of neurodegeneration.
Dr Ryan West
SITraN Fellow, Alzheimer's Society Fellow
Drosophila models of Neurodegeneration, Frontotemporal Dementia, Motor Neurone Disease, Parkinson's Disease
Professor Stephen Wharton
Professor of Neuropathology
Pathology of brain ageing, pathology of neurodegenerative disease, dementia, astrocytes, neurones and endothelium in the neurovascular unit, white matter pathology
Professor Stuart Wilson
Professor of Genetics
Fundamental mechanisms of human gene expression and their misregulation in disease.
Dr Jonathan Wood
Lecturer in Neuroscience
Neuroinflammation, age-associated white matter pathology, immunohistological characterisation, gene expression profiling
Sensory and developmental neuroscience
Dr David Andrew
Senior Clinical Lecturer
Neural mechanisms underlying chronic pain
Dr Simon Atkins
Senior Clinical Lecturer
Neuropathic pain, regeneration following nerve injury and repair
Professor Fiona Boissonade
Professor of Neuroscience
Chronic pain, mechanisms of altered neuronal excitability, nerve regeneration
Professor Ashley Cadby
Professor in Biological Physics
Development of optical microscopy to target specific biological problems
Prof Frederik Claeyssens
Reader in Biomaterials
Biomaterials and in vitro organ models and nerve regeneration
Dr Vincent Cunliffe
Senior Lecturer in Developmental Genetics
Development of the vertebrate nervous system; transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of neural cell fate; transcriptional and epigenetic responses to steroid hormone signalling in the zebrafish brain; anti-epileptic drug discovery in zebrafish.
Professor Bazbek Davletov
Chair in Biomedical Science
Novel medicines for chronic pain.Novel botulinum molecules for treatment of excessive secretions. Engineered neuroblastoma cells for development of novel neurological treatments.
Professor Andrew Furley
Professor of Developmental Neuroscience
Development of sensory & pain circuits, control of neural progenitor and stem cell function
Professor John Haycock
Professor of Bioengineering
Biomaterials and bioengineering, 3D imaging and models for nerve repair
Professor Matthew Holley
Emeritus Professor
Development and function of the mammalian inner ear
Dr Stuart Johnson
Royal Society University Research Fellow
Signalling characteristics of cochlear hair cells
Professor Mikko Juusola
Professor of Systems Neuroscience
Phototransduction, retinal and central processing of visual information
Dr Dan Lambert
Reader in Molecular Cell Biology
Neuronal-tumour interactions, molecular basis of pain, extracellular vesicles, non-coding RNA
Dr Andrew Lin
Vice-Chancellor's Fellow
Olfaction, learning and memory, activity-dependent plasticity
Professor Alison Loescher
Professor of Oral Surgery
Facial pain
Dr Mirna Mustapha
Noise and age-related hearing impairment
Dr Mohammed Nassar
Lecturer
Role of sodium channels in pain, new DRG cell lines for drug discovery and screening
Dr Anton Nikolaev
Lecturer in Neuroscience
Visual information processing in the central nervous system
Professor Marysia Placzek
Professor in Developmental Neurobiology
Development of the hypothalamus; homeostasis in health and disease
Professor Marcelo Rivolta
Professor of Sensory Stem Cell Biology
Auditory stem cells, inner ear repair
Dr Liz Seward
Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science
Neurotransmission and chronic pain; regulation of exocytosis by receptors, ion channels, SNARE regulatory proteins and adhesion molecules
Dr Fredericus van Eeden
Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science
DNA damage is an important driver that underlies neurodegeneration. We are studying the roles of the VHL/HIF signalling axis, focusing on the developing zebrafish larvae as an in vivo model.
Professor Tanya Whitfield
Professor of Developmental Biology
Development of vertebrate sensory systems.
Cognitive and Mental Health
Dr Asha Akram
Lecturer in Psychology
Neurodegenerative disorders, cell death following ischaemic stroke, targets for pharmacological treatment, rehabilitation therapy, clinical translation
Dr Mauricio Alvarez
Lecturer in Machine Learning
Machine learning, stochastic processes, Bayesian inference
Dr Paul Armitage
Lecturer in MRI Physics
Post-processing methods for MRI data, diffusion tensor imaging, dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI, arterial spin labelling, image registration, MR signal modelling
Dr Mahnaz Arvaneh
Lecturer
Brain computer interface, Closed-loop personalised cognitive and physical rehabilitation, Neural signal processing
Dr Claudia von Bastian
Lecturer in Psychology
Executive functions, memory & learning, cognitive ageing, cognitive plasticity
Dr Jason Berwick
Reader in Neurophysiology
Neurovascular coupling, imaging, electrophysiology
Professor Daniel Coca
Professor of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering
Mathematical theory of neural computation, visual information processing in Drosophila, optical brain imaging, large-scale simulation of neuronal systems
Dr Enrico Dall’Ara
Senior Lecturer in Multiscale Musculoskeletal Imaging
Computational models for improving the diagnosis and treatments for neuro-musculoskeletal diseases (preclinical and clinical)
Professor Paul Dean
Cerebella algorithm, cerebellar microcircuit, basal ganglia
Dr Tom Farrow
Senior Lecturer in Neuroimaging
Structural (voxel-based morphometry) and functional MR brain imaging, electrophysiological recording (skin conductance response), neuromodulation (transcranial direct current stimulation), psychiatric disorders, neurologic disorders
Dr Alexander Fletcher
Senior Lecturer in Mathematical Biology
Computational modelling of neuroepithelial patterning and morphogenesis
Dr Megan Freeth
Social cue information, neural basis of autistic behaviours
Professor Paul Griffiths
Professor of Radiology
Paediatric neuroimaging, in utero MRI scanning, clinical practice
Dr Lingzhong Guo
Lecturer in Automatic Control and Systems Engineering
Computationally efficient modelling and simulation including proxy measurement, surrogate modelling, and reduced order modelling
Professor Kevin Gurney
Computational modelling of basal ganglia, decision making, cognitive robotics
Professor Nigel Hoggard
Professor of Neuroradiology
Diagnostic applications of MRI, neuroscience, head and neck imaging
Dr Clare Howarth
Vice-Chancellor's Advanced Fellow
Blood supply to the brain, astrocytes, neuroimaging
Dr Myles Jones
Senior Lecturer in Psychology
Non-invasive functional neuroimaging techniques, cerebral hemodynamics, imaging data, stimulus-evoked neural activity, “resting-state” neuroimaging data
Professor Damien Lacroix
Professor of Mechanobiology
Dr Liat Levita
Developmental neuroscience, fMRI, sMRI, EEG, emotion, cognition, threat and reward processing, adolescence
Dr Haiping Lu
Senior Lecturer in Machine Learning
Machine learning, medical imaging, network analysis
Dr Mike Mangan
Computational neuroscience primarily related to invertebrates; verification of neural hypothesis through embedded systems on robots; place learning and navigation; novel sensory systems inspired by nature but applied to engineering problems
Professor James Marshall
Professor of Theoretical and Computational Biology
Computational neuroscience, behaviour, decision-making, robotics
Dr Chris Martin
Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience and Psychobiology
Functional brain imaging signals, neurovascular coupling, science communication, public understanding
Professor Lyudmila Mihaylova
Professor of Signal Processing and Control
Novel methods for autonomous intelligent systems: for sensing, tracking and decision making, machine learning and their engineering applications.
Professor Liz Milne
Autism spectrum disorders, perception, EEG technique
Dr Michael Okun
Lecturer in Psychology
Systems and computational neuroscience, cortical microcircuits, large-scale electrophysiology.
Professor Paul Overton
Basal ganglia, dopaminergic neurons, neuroadaptations through drug abuse
Professor Tony Prescott
Professor of Cognitive Robotics
Computational cognitive neuroscience, bio-inspired robotics, biomimetic and biohybrid systems
Professor Peter Redgrave
Basal ganglia, computational processes, superior colliculus
Professor Markus Reuber
Non-epileptic attack disorder (NEAD), psychosocial and neuropsychological aspects of epilepsy, doctor-patient communication
Dr Paul Richmond
Large-scale simulation of neuronal systems, High performance computing and simulation (GPUs and distributed), Software Engineering for Neuroscience
Dr Hannes Saal
Computational neuroscience, touch and tactile processing, neural coding, robotics, human psychophysics
Dr Michael Smith
Academic Fellow
Dr Tom Stafford
Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Cognitive Science
Learning, decision making, movement system
Dr Nemanja Vaci
Lecturer in Psychology
Development of expertise across the lifetime, cognitive performance in patients with dementia diseases, large-scale data analysis, machine learning and advanced statistical modelling, natural language processing.
Dr Thomas Webb
Self-regulation, behaviour change, goal achievement, motivation
Dr Hua-Liang Wei
Senior Lecturer
Neurophysiology, neuro-imaging data modelling and analysis, EEG, fMRI and ECG data, classification, pattern recognition, anomaly detection