The field team
The field team is responsible for recruitment, day-to-day implementation of a number of projects, undertaking cognitive assessments, biological sample collection and facilitating neuroimaging. Members of the field team receive ongoing training in accordance with ethical and legal regulations, and are committed to delivering a friendly, safe experience to all who wish to participate in our research.
We welcome and encourage people to participate in research projects and clinical trials that are ongoing in the department. Typically, research projects involve adults over the age of 50 with or without dementia.
Please contact us if you are interested in our research, and we will be happy to discuss the aims and procedures of our portfolio or to distribute research-related literature. Enquiries from prospective participants, carers, family and friends are warmly received.
Some of our current research projects are listed under theProjects tab.
PROTECT
The PROTECT study aims to understand how healthy brains age and why people develop dementia. We are recruiting people aged over 50 years old without a diagnosis of dementia. Once a year, participants will be asked to complete a set of online questionnaires about their lifestyle and health and also to complete tests to measure changes in brain function. The PROTECT study is run by the University of Exeter and Kings College London, in partnership with the NHS.
Find out more about this project
Determind
The Determind (Determinants of quality of life, care and costs, and consequences of inequalities in people with dementia and their carers) research study aims to explore and understand the inequalities in dementia care and what drives good and bad quality of life, outcomes and costs for people with dementia and their carers following diagnosis. This is a non-interventional study, and involves participants answering a series of questions about their health, cognition and well-being. Participants will be visited on an annual basis over four years.
Cannabidiol for Behavioural Symptoms in Alzheimer’s Disease (CANBIS-AD)
This study aims to assess the safety and tolerability of an investigational medication called cannabidiol (CBD) for the treatment of patients with behavioural and psychological symptoms due to Alzheimer’s disease. To investigate this, we are recruiting people aged 55 years and above who have a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease and are currently experiencing behavioural or psychological symptoms(e.g. anxiety, agitation, delusions or hallucinations). Participants will be randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups. The first group will receive CBD capsules and the second group will receive placebo capsules for 6 weeks. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) brain scans will be carried out for a sub-set of participants to help understand how CBD might work.
To find out more, please email the CANBiS-AD team at canbisad.trialoffice@kcl.ac.uk
A blood test for Alzheimer's disease
We aim to develop a simple, accurate and inexpensive blood test for Alzheimer’s disease to support the testing of promising treatments in clinical trials. To achieve this, we will:-
(a) identify and validate a blood expression biomarker of early Alzheimer’s disease;
(b) develop an accurate blood expression biomarker capable of predicting the rate at which a person will deteriorate;
(c) determine the best combination of measures to achieve the most accurate Alzheimer’s disease blood biomarker.
Find out more about this project
Brains for Dementia Research
The Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer's Research UK have come together to jointly fund the largest brain bank initiative to date. Brains for Dementia Research (BDR) was established in 2007 to promote brain donation and develop a network of brain tissue banks to facilitate research into dementia.
Find out more about this project
Sativex® for the Treatment of AgitatioN in Dementia (STAND)
The STAND trial aims to explore the feasibility of a cannabinoid-based therapeutic, Sativex®, for neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia in a nursing home population, specifically targeting clinically significant agitation. It will employ mixed methods to explore factors regarding feasibility, acceptability and estimating efficacy of Sativex® for neuropsychiatric symptoms and improved quality of life. STAND is led by Professor Dag Aarsland and his team, generously funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK (https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/research-projects/cannabis/), and co-sponsored by King’s College London and South London & Maudsley NHS Trust.
To find out more, visit the study webpage here:
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn/depts/oldage/research/medication-studies/clinical-trials/sativex%c2%ae-for-the-treatment-of-agitation-in-dementia-stand-trial
or email the team at STAND-trial@kcl.ac.uk.
Electronic Black and Asian Minority Ethnicity Survey (E-BAME)
The new E-BAME study examining key issues relating to mental health and wellbeing in Black and Asian ethnic and faith groups during the COVID-19 pandemic has been launched!
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused health complications across the UK, particularly within the Black and Asian Minority Ethnicities (BAME) society. Due to existing medical conditions observed in this population group the associated risk for Covid-19 is higher with more severe complications. The response to the pandemic is affected by various key factors, additionally self-isolation and social distancing are likely to have a psychological impact with long lasting consequences. The assessments will include five online/telephone surveys.
You can join at https://kings.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/e-bame-study-baseline
You can find more information at http://facebook.com/KCLEbamestudy
Members of the Department’s team carry out biological and clinical research that we believe will have an important impact upon our understanding of dementia and other mental illnesses that affect older people and lead to the development of better treatments. We do this by working in close collaboration with the IoPPN’s Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health and SLaM Mental Health of Older Adults clinical services. Our research into the basic biology of dementia, the clinical features and the conduct of randomised controlled trials is internationally regarded. We have a particular commitment to the conduct of high quality independent clinical trials because the results of these can impact positively upon the availability of effective treatments.
Senior members of the Department offer supervision to students wishing to undertake a PhD or MD. Potential research students should contact us directly to find out more.
You can find more information on how to apply and other opportunities in the School of Academic Psychiatry by visiting thePostgraduate research programmes page.
Current PhD students
Arteen Ahmed
Title: Prospective review of Impulse Control Behaviours in Parkinson's DBS.
Summary: The objective of this prospective observational cohort study is to answer the following clinically important questions;
1. What is the risk of developing post-operative de novo impulse control disorders (ICDs) after subthalamus nucleus deep brain stimulation?
2. In patients with a pre-operative history of ICDs, what is the likelihood of improvement or deterioration in ICDs post-operatively?
3. Which factors are important in predicting changes in ICDs after STN DBS?
Contact: arteen.ahmed@kcl.ac.uk
Supervisors: Professor Dag Aarsland and Dr Paul Shotbolt
Christopher Albertyn
Title: A mixed methods investigation of cannabinoids for the treatment of behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia.
Summary: Our hypothesis is that Sativex will be an acceptable & feasible treatment in nursing homes for agitation in people living with dementia, and that we will be able to estimate a positive treatment effect for a larger confirmatory trial. The PhD student will employ mixed methods to assess this hypothesis, moreover our aims are:
1. To perform an in-depth qualitative process evaluation of the feasibility, safety & acceptability of Sativex for the treatment of agitation in dementia in nursing homes - extracting prominent themes using thematic analysis.
2. To estimate the treatment effect of Sativex for agitation by administering neuropsychiatric measures and performing statistical analyses (ANCOVAs/T-tests/Chi squared) and modelling (linear mixed effects model, adjusting for baseline patient severity).
3. To estimate the treatment effect of Sativex for other neuropsychiatric symptoms (such as sleep, mood, psychosis and appetite) and pain by administering neuropsychiatric measures and performing statistical analyses (ANCOVAs/T-tests/Chi squared) and modelling (linear mixed effects model, adjusting for baseline patient severity).
Contact:chris.albertyn@kcl.ac.uk
Supervisors: Professor Dag Aarsland and Dr Latha Velayudhan
Sofea Aljffri
Title: Imaging correlates of cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms in people with Lewy body disease.
Summary: Cognitive and psychiatric symptoms are common and have important clinical consequences in people with Lewy body disease, i.e. Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. The mechanisms underlying these symptoms are poorly understood, and thus there are few available treatments. Brain imaging, including novel methods using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful tool to explore underlying structural and functional changes associated with clinical symptoms. The primary research question of this thesis is: What are the brain changes associated with i) psychiatric symptoms (hallucinations) and ii) cognitive impairment in people with Lewy body disease and iii) how do these changes relate.
Contact: sharifah_amirah_sofea.aljffri@kcl.ac.uk
Supervisors: Professor Dominic ffytche and Professor Dag Aarsland
Jonathan Cheung
Title: Contribution of microglia to neuronal synaptic plasticity – modelling effects using Alzheimer’s disease risk genes.
Contact:jonathan.cheung@kcl.ac.uk
Supervisors: Dr Angela Hodges and Dr Shi-Yan Ng
Ta-Wei Guu
Title: STAND-S study - explore sleep, circadian rhythm and cognition with wearable devices
Summary: This study aims to extend the scope of the Sativex® for the Treatment of AgitatioN in Dementia (STAND trial), and explore sleep and cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s dementia patients living in care homes. It will use both proxy reported questionnaires, structured questionnaires and cognitive tests as well as an innovative, objective actigraphy measure to evaluate the change of sleep, rest-activity rhythm (RAR) to explore interactions between Sativex® treatment, agitation, sleep and cognitive function.
Contact:ta-wei.guu@kcl.ac.uk
Supervisors: Professor Dominic ffytche and Professor Dag Aarsland
Shervin Khosousi
Title: Novel fluid biomarkers for Parkinson's disease with dementia
Main aim: To investigate the novel discovery of peripheral bio fluid biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease dementia
Hypothesis: We hypothesise a peripheral signature exists in Parkinson’s disease that is associated with disease progression and is reflected in the progressive cognitive decline. We also believe that inflammatory markers are a promising lead in finding this peripheral signature.
Contact: shervin.khosousi@kcl.ac.uk
Supervisors: Dr Latha Velayudhan and Professor Per Sveningsson
Marcella Montagnese
Title: The neural basis of psychosis in Parkinson’s disease. Developing targets for understanding current treatments and developing novel treatments
Main aim: The aim is to implement and enhance a neuroimaging protocol to test for whole brain impairment in PD patients with and without psychosis to (i) enhance understanding of the neural basis of PD psychosis, (ii) estimate the magnitude of impairment both in predefined brain regions and across brain networks and (iii) test for drug effects in these networks. The primary hypothesis is that a network centred on the lateral occipito-temporal boundary (posterior ventral stream) will be impaired in PD psychosis. The secondary hypothesis is that the interaction of this network with the central executive network will be impaired in the patients with psychosis. These networks will be tested for sensitivity to drug effects using an experimental compound.
Contact:marcella.montagnese@kcl.ac.uk
Supervisors: Professor Dominic ffytche and Professor Mitul Mehta
James Peyre
Title: Investigating the role of alpha-synuclein in the beta-amyloid-driven synaptotoxic pathway.
Main aim: The primary hypothesis we wish to test is that Ab and a-syn each act on synapses through a common pathway, the pathway in question being the non-canonical arm of the Wnt signalling pathway which we have uncovered is activated by Ab through Dkk1. The effects of wild type and neuropathological forms of soluble a-syn on dendritic spine number and morphology will be examined using confocal microscopy and Super Resolution live-cell imaging The effects will be determined alone and in the presence of exogenous Ab and Dkk1 proteins and when the b-amyloid precursor protein, the source of endogenous Ab, and Dkk1 genes are silenced. Further, the position of a-syn in the pathway will be determined by silencing key components of the pathway and by over pressing dominant-negative form of those components and by using small molecule inhibitors acting at specific levels of the pathway. This will establish where a-syn sits in the pathway and how it acts on downstream components.
Contact:james.peyre@kcl.ac.uk
Supervisors: Dr Richard Killick and Professor Dag Aarsland