Detlef Alexander Gerhard, MD

Senior Lecturer for Neurology at the Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre

Honorary neurological consultant at Salford Royal Hospital

Deputy Centre Lead for Clinical and Cognitive Neurosciences at the Institute for Brain Behaviour and Mental Health

• Medical School in Bonn (Germany), Bristol (UK), Norfolk (USA)
• Graduation as medical doctor at the University of Bonn, Germany, in 1995
• 1995-2000 general clinical training and specialist Neurology training in University Hospitals in Munich and Muenster and Ulm.
• 2000-2005- Research Fellow MRC Cyclotron Unit Hammersmith Hospital, London UK
• 2005-2007 Training in general and old age Psychiatry University Hospital Mainz, Germany
• Since 2008, after moving to the University of Manchester, UK, Senior Lecturer in clinical neuroscience at the Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre (WMIC) and Honorary Consultant Neurologist, Salford Royal Foundation Trust (SRFT)

•          I have pioneered the use of the PET– ligand and biomarker [11C](R)-PK11195 PET for activated microglia to examine the role of neuro-inflammation in parkinsonian disorders in vivo. The approach has been used in idiopathic Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy, and corticobasal degeneration. It has been possible to demonstrate a disease pattern in vivo that closely corresponds with the known neuropathology in these disorders We have also been able to obtain longitudinal data over 2 years with this approach in idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, showing that microglial activation seems to change very little during this time. Recently I have used [11C](R)-PK11195 PET to demonstrate the effect of minocycline on microglial activation in a clinical study with MSA patients the first interventional study using this PET technique.

•          My current imaging research concentrates on further examining of the role of microglial activation in neurological and psychiatric disorders using the very sensitive high resolution HRRT PET scanner as well as using different PET and MR modalities to correlate metabolic and structural changes with clinical presentations in dementia syndromes

•          The focus of my clinical research is the clinical characterization of neurodegenerative disorders in correlation to genetic, biochemical and neuropathological parameters.

- Weekly Undergraduate teaching in Neurology
- Lectures within the preclinical Module "Mind and Movement"
- Lectures within the intercalating BSc Pathology Programme - Neuropathology Module, Manchester University
- Regular  teaching and assessments for registrars (neurology and old age psychiatry) in seminars and outpatient clinics

WMIC/ Uni Manchester
- Kathryn McDonald
- Zhangji Su
- Chris Kobylecki
- Tobias Langheinrich
- Rainer Hinz
- Herve Boutin
- Karl Herholz
- David Craufurd
- Iris Trender- Gerhard
- Patsy Cotton
 

External

Imperial College, London
- N Pavese
- F Roncaroli
- DJ Brooks

King’s College, London
F Turkheimer
 A Hammers

The University of Sheffield
-  Arshad Majid

National and international corporations through collaborative grants/ projects
- GENFI  (Genetic FTD Initiative)
- INMiND (Imaging of Neuroinflammation in Neurodegenerative Diseases)
- EMSA-SG (European MSA Study Group)

Royal College of Physicians

Association of British Neurologists

British Medical Association

American Academy of Neurology

Movement Disorder Society

European Society of Molecular Imaging

Functional neuroimaging, especially using positron emission tomography (PET)

Doctor of medicine (Dr.med.), University of Bonn, Germany
Specialist board examination in Neurology, Mainz, Germany
GMC Specialist Register for Neurology