Clinical Neuroscience MD(Res)/MPhil/PhD at Kings College London

Overview

The Department of Clinical Neuroscience is one of the leading academic units for clinical neuroscience in the UK. Research in the Department is focused on neurodegenerative disorders, epilepsy, health services research, brain injury and stroke, and builds on collaborations with the Departments of Neuroscience, Neuroimaging and Psychology. 

Research programmes within the Department include: Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and related disorders - The Department hosts the Kings MND Care and Research Centre, one of the world’s leading centres for MND research and the development of new treatments; Movement disorders (particularly atypical Parkinsonian syndromes such as PSP and MSA); Epileptology, with particular interest in developing new electrophysiological, neuroimaging and cognitive approaches to understanding epilepsy; Neurogenetics, particularly linkage studies and complex genetics in MND, Parkinsonian disorders and epilepsy; Acute brain injury.

Description

Current number of academic staff: Approximately 60.

Current number of research students: Approximately 15.

Some current research projects:

• Genetic linkage and association studies on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
• Biomarkers in the blood and CSF in ALS.
• Cellular and transgenic models of ALS.
• The functional anatomy of apathy: a functional MRI study in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Alzheimer's Disease;
• Is cortical excitability abnormal in Motor Neuron Disease (MND)?;
• Studies using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI);

Course study environment

Graduate research students work closely with their supervisors and enjoy regular meetings to discuss their progress. They also liaise with other members of staff with relevant research interests and are encouraged to attend and participate in departmental research presentations and other Institute seminars. There is a full induction for new graduate students on commencing their studies. Each full-time graduate research student is allocated their own workspace and computer; facilities for part-time students can be arranged according to their needs. State-of-the-art genetics and neuroimaging facilities are available, and students benefit from a unique Clinical Research Facility, and the new Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience building.