King's College Hospital Chief Officers Visit Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute

The School of Neuroscience welcomed King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Chief Executive Officer Professor Clive Kay and Chief Medical Officer Dr Leonie Penna to the Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute to discuss collaborations with King's College Hospital.

Professor Mark Richardson, Head of School of Neuroscience, led the tour around the Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, one of Europe's largest centres for interdisciplinary excellence in neuroscience. Located on the Denmark Hill campus of King's College London, the 6,500 sqm building brings together 250 clinicians and researchers and is home to the Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience.

I'm pleased to be able to show Professor Kay and Dr Penna the Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute. It has been an important asset to the growth of our research and our work with King's College Hospital, which ultimately benefits patients. The school currently ranks 4th worldwide for highly-cited publications in neuroscience and neurology. This is only possible because of the calibre of researchers we have and the many collaborations we have with the hospital."

Professor Mark Richardson, Head of School of Neuroscience

The visit continued with a tour of the Wohl Cellular Imaging Centre with its director Professor Deepak Srivastava and facility manager Dr George Chennell. Located on the ground floor of the institute, the centre opened in 2017 and is a crucial facility providing cutting-edge light microscopy equipment with image analysis software and workstations to researchers in King's.

They then met with Professor Sandrine Thuret who explained the breadth of research in the Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience. The department is the biggest in the school, with research ranging from neurodegenerative diseases to cellular functions. Dr Claire Troakes, Coordinator of King's College London Neurodegenerative Diseases Brain Bank, highlighted the crucial role of the facility in providing patient and control tissues to researchers. Professor Jernej Ule and Dr Sarah Mizielinska represented the UK Dementia Research Institute at King's, where research looks at the molecular processes underlying Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Discussion continued with clinicians based in the school on the importance of clinical-academic partnerships. Mr Aminul Ahmed, a consultant neurosurgeon at King's College Hospital, is currently investigating the use of advanced therapeutics for Traumatic Brain Injury. Professor Ray Chaudhuri leads various teams of clinicians and researchers collaborating to address non-motor aspects of Parkinson's disease. Dr Daniel van Wamelen talked about neuroimaging and non-invasive biomarkers in Huntington's disease.

The visit ended with a tour of the Biomarker Research and Imaging for Neuroscience (BRAIN) Centre. The centre works closely with the Department of Neuroimaging to facilitate the development of translation biomarkers in neurological and psychiatric disorders. The tour was given by Dr Diana Cash, Centre Manager and Scientific Director, and Professor Steve Williams, Head of Department of Neuroimaging.

It has been exciting to learn about the research and see the great facilities that have been established. Today's discussion has reinforced the importance of collaborations between King's College Hospital and the School of Neuroscience."

Professor Clive Kay, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Chief Executive Officer

It is great to see how Maurice Wohl has developed as a hub for excellent neuroscience research. The work happening here has great translational value, and we hope to strengthen our partnership with the school to expedite finding cures and treatments for many neurological diseases."

Dr Leonie Penna, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Chief Medical Officer