Staff at the Centre for Neurogenetics

Our lab aims to understand structural plasticity of the nervous system: in development, regeneration and repair. That is, what is the link between structure and function in the brain? How does the brain change as we grow, learn and age? What happens in nervous system injury and disease, and how can we promote regeneration and repair?

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Professor De Brito is a psychologist and director of the Social, Cognitive, Affective, and Neuroscience (SCAN) lab. Research in the SCAN lab focuses on understanding the mechanistic interplay between the social, cognitive, affective, and neurocognitive factors implicated in the development and persistence of antisocial and aggressive behaviour. A second strand of research examines those aspects ...

Daniel Fulton is an Associate Professor in Glial Biology based in the Neuroscience, Trauma and Ophthalmology group of the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing. Dr Fulton leads the Oligodendrocyte & Myelin research group.

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-5712-2776

Zubair Ahmed is Professor of Neuroscience and Lead for the Neuroscience and Ophthalmology Section in the Department of Inflammation and Ageing. His current focus for research is aligned with University identified priority areas of Immunology, Infection and Inflammation related to Trauma and in particular Neurotrauma. Some of his research projects are aimed at identifying the ...

Professor Sarah Aldred is an exercise biochemist interested in oxidative stress. She is interested in how exercise can perturb redox homeostasis in both health and disease. Sarah has worked with young and old, and with those suffering from psychosis and schizophrenia, cardiovascular disease and dementia. 

Sarah is Head of the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences.

Professor Bagshaw's main focus is on understanding how the human brain is impacted by sleep and epilepsy, with a particular emphasis on the role of the thalamus. He is also interested in understanding how ongoing brain activity influences brain and behavioural responses. This work requires new tools to be developed and applied, particularly for the acquisition and analysis of simultaneously ...

Dr Brain is the Head of Intercalation for the College of Medicine and Health, Head of Assessments (MBChB) and the deputy lead for Years 1 and 2 of the MBChB programme.

Davide Calebiro is the Head of the Department of Metabolism and Systems Science, a Professor of Molecular Endocrinology, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow and Co-Director of the Centre of Membrane Proteins and Receptors (COMPARE) of the Universities of Birmingham and Nottingham

He leads a multidisciplinary research team comprising biologists, chemists, physicists, engineers and computer ...

Dr Chechlacz is broadly interested in understanding how variability in the neurochemical, structural and functional organisation of the brain affect cognitive functions and relates to individual differences in human behaviour and in susceptibility to cognitive ageing and mental health problems. Her work combines cognitive assessment of attentional functions with spherical deconvolution ...

Professor Cook’s work investigates action and social cognition in typically developed adults and those with autism spectrum conditions.

With respect to action Professor Cook and her colleagues have shown that autistic adults move with subtly different kinematics compared to typical controls (Cook, Blakemore and Press, 2013, Brain). Such atypical kinematics can impact on the ...

Dr Di Pietro is a Molecular Neuroscientist with a MSc in Molecular Biology, a PhD in Clinical Biochemistry and a further degree in Medical Genetics. With almost 20 years of research experience with particular interest in the molecular mechanisms of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), she is an expert of in vitro and in vivo animal models of TBI. She currently leads the research efforts on microRNA ...

Professor Elsdon-Baker is a transdisciplinary researcher whose work is predominantly sociological, historical, philosophical and psychological in approach. Her research interests are:

• The perception of, and trust in, Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) in diverse societies and across cultures
• Public space and cultural narratives surrounding STEMM
• Nati ...

Dr Fan’s research interest centres on understanding how cell death, cell proliferation and cell differentiation are coordinated to maintain tissue homeostasis.  This has important implications for cancer development and tissue regeneration.  

Professor Galea uses a range of techniques (behaviour, brain imaging, brain stimulation, computational modelling) to investigate motor control and learning in health and disease. At present, he is particularly interested in reward-based motor learning and how sequential actions (typing, handwriting) are planned and executed. 

Personal website: www.josephgalea.weebly.com

Professor Gkoutos holds the chair of Clinical Bioinformatics, a joint appointment between the University of Birmingham Medical School and the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. 

He is the Joint Director of the Health Data Science Centre at the University of Birmingham, a Faculty Affiliate Professor of Clinical Bioinformatics, Berkeley Lab, Associate Director of MRC Health ...

Dr Vanessa Heggie is a historian of modern science and medicine, with a particular interest in the history of nineteenth and twentieth century biomedical and life sciences. She also dabbles in the philosophy of science. 

Vanessa has published books on the history of exploration and physiology, and on sports medicine, and many articles and chapters on a range of topics from Victorian nursing ...

Our lab aims to understand structural plasticity of the nervous system: in development, regeneration and repair. That is, what is the link between structure and function in the brain? How does the brain change as we grow, learn and age? What happens in nervous system injury and disease, and how can we promote regeneration and repair?

Find out more from our website

Martin Higgs is a group leader in the Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences. He is currently Associate Professor for Genomics and Rare Disease, and leads a research group working on the cellular response to genotoxic stress. He is also Deputy Director for the Centre for Rare Disease Studies (CRDS) Birmingham.  

Martin’s area of expertise is the study of a single ...

Ned’s research incorporates a range of techniques including non-invasive brain stimulation, electrophysiological recording, eye-tracking, neuroimaging and behavioural techniques. He uses these techniques to investigate how the brain controls movement and how it allows us to - seemingly effortlessly - learn new motor skills. His research is not only intended to help us understanding how the ...

Prof.  Ole Jensen is a word leading expert on applying magnetoencephalograpghy to study the human brain. In particular his work has focused on uncovering the mechanism role of neuronal oscillations for cognition. 

• Research group website

• Orcid ID: 0000-0001-8193-8348

Professor Atina Krajewska’s work focuses on the developments of human rights law in the area of health and medicine. She has published in the area of genomics, reproductive rights, and global health law and governance. Her book on Genetic Information and the Scope of Personal Autonomy in European Law, published in Poland in 2008, has had considerable impact on legislative decisions of ...

Yu-Chiang is a Birmingham Fellow in the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences and affiliated in the Mitochondrial Profiling Centre (MPC), MRC-ARUK Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research and the Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research (IMSR).   

Yu-Chiang’s group focuses on deciphering the signalling networks that regulate muscle metabolic functions. We ...

Dr MacDonald’s research focuses on the behavioural, neurophysiological and genetic mechanisms of impulse control i.e. how we control our actions. She is especially interested in how these mechanisms may be influenced by dopamine dysregulation as seen in Parkinson’s disease and other dopamine-related disorders. She utilizes techniques such as non-invasive brain stimulation, genotyping, ...

Professor Mauro trained as biochemist and cellular biologist before starting to approach immunological questions with his own group, motivated by the recent ‘renaissance’ in the interest in metabolism in widespread fields of the basic and clinical science.

Professor Mauro holds a Senior Basic Science Fellowship from the British Heart Foundation. He jointly leads a new Marie ...

Professor Jean McHale researches and writes in the area of Health Law and Health Care law. She is the Director of the Centre for Health Law, Science and Policyat Birmingham Law School. Her recent books include Adult Social Care Law and Policy, Lessons from the Pandemic with Dr Laura Noszlopy ( In press, BUP publication date November 2024), The Regulation of Cosmetic Procedures: Legal, Ethical ...

Prithvi is an Associate Professor in Autism Studies within the Department of Disability, Inclusion and Special Needs (DISN)and a member of the Autism Centre for Education Research (ACER). He is the programme leader for the distance learning Autism Children programme. He also contributes to teaching of the on-campus MA Education programme, and to some teaching on our Dubai campus. He ...

Our lab uses the fruit fly Drosophila to unravel the mechanisms underlying behavioural choices. By studying how the brain makes decisions at a genetic, cellular and circuit level, in an accessible experimental system, we aim to reveal fundamental principles that might be present across species.

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The aim of Professor Richards’ research is to reduce negative clinical outcomes for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. Her work with children with autism and children with rare genetic syndromes has thus far focused on reducing self-injury, improving sleep disorders and understanding the impact of premature birth. Her research uses experimental, epidemiological, single case and ...

I work on modern literature and culture. My main areas of interest are modernism, the literature of the First World War, life writing, literary impressionism, and futurology.

• Ford Madox Ford: A Dual Life, 2 vols (Oxford University Press, 1996)
• Self-Impression: Life-Writing, Autobiografiction and the Forms of Modern Literature (Oxford University Press, 2010)
• Imagined Futures: Writing, Science ...

My prime research interest is how the information encoded in chromosomes instructs building of the most complex organ, the brain, and allows an organism to perform elaborate tasks.

Professor Grant Stewart is a Professor of Cancer Genetics in the Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences.

Defective repair of DNA damage is the most frequent underlying cause of genetic instability and cancer development. Professor Stewart's research focuses on understanding how the cell detects and repairs damage to its DNA and how defects in this process contribute to the development of ...

Richard is an Associate Professor and Head of Education based in the Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences. He is a cell biologist with a particular interest in understanding DNA damage in neurological disease.