I conduct research in the field of Neuroimaging.

With a background in both physics (MPhys Oxford, 1997) and neuroscience (MSc, UCL 1999) my research is focussed on developing novel methodology to study brain function. Following a PhD on quantitative measurements of cerebral blood flow (UCL, 2002), I moved to the Netherlands to complete postdoctoral research using fMRI and MEG. In 2005 I returned to the UK, first to the University of Liverpool and, since 2008, the Manchester University. One principle area of reseach concerns mechanisms of brain plasticity following a New Investigators Award from the Medical Research Council in 2006. I continue to study the cerebrovascular system, and have developed quantitative measurements of cerebral blood flow, microvessel structure, oxygen metabolism and blood-brain barrier integrity. Key applications are in ageing, cerebral small vessel disease, stroke, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's Disease with an aim to understand mechanisms of cognitive decline.
 

My research focus is the quantification of neurophysiological properties of the human brain, using both MRI and MEG. In particular I have developed quantitative measurements of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and oxygen metabolism in the human brain through the use of the arterial spin labeling (ASL) technique. I have applied these techniques to the study of cerebrovascular disease and ageing. In my developing career I plan to continue work in small vessel disease and use a combination of imaging measurements to investigate the physiological changes that lead to neuronal damage and cognitive decline in this disease, and other forms of dementia.
I am also interested in the potential for the brain to recover from disease and adapt, and in the mechanisms underlying this brain plasticity. My current research focuses on the neurophysiological changes that accompany cortical plasticity in both the visual and somatosensory systems of the normal healthy brain. I use both MEG and MRI to measure indicators of change, such as location and extent of the somatotopic map and the changing synaptic weighting between groups of neurons. I have implemented a multi-voxel pattern classification approach to fMRI analysis which I think is key to understanding changes in neural tuning that accompany plasticity. I plan to continue basic work on neural coding of sensory inputs.
 

I supervise undergraduate physics and medical students on literature reviews and research projects and MSc students on dissertation projects. 

External Collaborators:
Prof. Geoff Parker, University College London
Prof. Hedley Emsley, University of Lancaster
Prof. Dorothee Auer, University of Nottingham
Prof. Tom Solomon, University of Liverpool
Dr. Ryckie Wade, University of Leeds

Internal Collaborators:
Dr. Ben Dickie
Dr. Caroline Lea-Carnall
Dr. Hamied Haroon
Dr. Julian Matthews
Dr. Herve Boutin
Dr. Marie-Claude Asselin
Dr. Maryn McFarquhar
Dr. Shruti Garg
Prof. Stavros Stivaros
Prof. Steve Williams
Prof. Karl Herholz
Prof. Stuart Allan
Prof. Craig Smith
Prof. Daniela Montaldi

Full member of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Full member of the Society for Neuroscience.

General MRI physics, with advanced knowledge of functional MRI and Arterial Spin Labelling.
Extensive knowledge of fMRI design, stimulus presentation using 'Presentation' software and analysis using BrainVoyager software.
Magnetoencephalography (MEG).
Combined EEG and fMRI (Brain Vision system).

1997 – 2001 PhD at the Institute of Neurology, University College London.
                  ‘Measuring blood perfusion in the brain using arterial spin labelled MRI’.
1998 - 1999 MSc at University College London.
                  Neurological Science. Research project in visual psychophysics.
1993 - 1997 MPhys (Hons) 2:1 Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University.
                  Physics