Established | 1950 [1] |
---|---|
Director | Michael G. Hanna [2] |
Administrative staff | Around 800 [3] |
Students | Around 500 graduate students [3] |
Location | |
Website | www |
The UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology is an institute within the Faculty of Brain Sciences of University College London (UCL) and is located in London, United Kingdom. [1] Together with the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, an adjacent facility with which it cooperates closely, the institute forms a major centre for teaching, training and research in neurology and allied clinical and basic neurosciences. [4] [5]
The institute has a staff of around 750 and 500 graduate students, an annual turnover of £102 million and occupies around 12,000 sq m of laboratory and office space. [6] Four of the 12 most highly cited authors in neuroscience and behaviour in the world are currently based at the institute. [3] The institute conducts research into a wide range of neurological diseases, including movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, brain cancer, stroke and brain injury, muscle and nerve disorders, cognitive dysfunction and dementia. [7] It forms a key part of UCL Neuroscience. [3]
The Institute of Neurology was established in 1950. [1] It merged with UCL in 1997, becoming the UCL Institute of Neurology. [1] [8] The institute is centred at Queen Square House, a concrete tower in the north-east corner of Queen Square, London that opened in 1971. [9] Due to expansion, some of the institute's departments and activities are now based in numerous locations in Queen Square and surrounding parts of Bloomsbury. [3] The UCL Institute of Neurology was rebranded to UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology in September, 2018. [10]
In 2019, project manager Arcadis and contractor ISG Ltd began work to expand the footprint of the Eastman Dental Hospital site on Gray's Inn Road to enable construction of a new building for the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and a hub for the UK Dementia Research Institute. Completion is scheduled for mid 2025.
The institute currently holds 679 active research projects, totalling £262m. Annual turnover is £102 million. [3] In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise almost 100 staff were submitted for evaluation and 70% of research was deemed to be internationally competitive or world leading. [3] Submitted papers received an average citation rate of 40 per paper. [3]
The most recent research assessment exercise, REF2014, showed that the institute, as part of the Faculty of Brain Sciences, is the first rated UK institution for neuroscience research output [3]
The institute is home to the following research departments and centres [11]
The institute also has active collaborative research programmes with the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, the Leonard Wolfson Experimental Neurology Centre and the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour. [12] [13]
In November 2002, a team of researchers at the institute led by Professor John Collinge published the results of a study which showed that the number of cases of CJD caused by the consumption of BSE-infected beef may have been higher than previously calculated and that BSE, in addition to causing variant CJD (vCJD), may also have caused some cases of "sporadic" CJD. [14]
In February 2004, a team of researchers at the institute led by Tania Singer published research showing that it is possible for one human to feel another's pain and that the same regions of the brain are activated in the empathizer and the empathisee. [15] In July 2005, a team of researchers at the institute led by Davina Bristow published the results of research funded by the Wellcome Trust in Current Biology which demonstrated that parts of the human brain are temporarily "switched off" when blinking. [16]
In September 2005, a team of researchers at the institute led by Victor Tybulewicz at the National Institute for Medical Research and Professor Elizabeth Fisher from the institute published the results of a study in which they had been able to introduce most of a human chromosome into mice, producing the most successful recreation of Down's syndrome to date. [17]
In August 2007, a team of researchers at the institute led by Henrik Ehrsson published research in Science which was the first to describe how it is possible to use cameras to trick the human brain into thinking that a person is elsewhere in a room than they really are. [18] [19]
In February 2011, a team of researchers at the institute led by Nick Wood published the results of a genetic study which had identified five new genes linked to Parkinson's disease. [20]
In September 2015, Prof Sarah Tabrizi began the first human trial of a 'gene silencing' antisense oligonucleotide drug, IONIS-HTTRx, for the neurodegenerative disease Huntington's disease at the institute's Leonard Wolfson Experimental Neurology Centre. [21]
The institute operates a joint library with the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, which is located at the institute. [38] The library is the recognised Library for Neurology within the University of London and contains an important collection of specialist neurology, neurosurgery and neuroscience books and journals, together with general medical and biomedical literature. [38] Holders of identity cards for the institute, UCL, the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery or University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust may become registered users. [38]
The archives hold numerous collections including:
In addition, the library has an extensive rare book collection held in the Louise Shepherd Room [43] and holds many medical images and drawings, especially of those done by Carswell and Bell, as well as the Sheridan Russell's register of paintings at the NHNN. [44]
Neurology is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the spinal cord and the peripheral nerves. Neurological practice relies heavily on the field of neuroscience, the scientific study of the nervous system.
The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery is a neurological hospital in Queen Square, London. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It was the first hospital to be established in England dedicated exclusively to treating the diseases of the nervous system. It is closely associated with University College London (UCL) and in partnership with the UCL Institute of Neurology, which occupies the same site, is a major centre for neuroscience research.
Josemir W. Sander, also known as Ley Sander, is a Professor of Neurology and Clinical Epilepsy, and the head of Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. He is also a Professor of Neurology at West China Hospital, Sichaun University in Chengdu, China.
John S. Duncan is a British neurologist specialising in epilepsy. He is Professor of Clinical Neurology at University College London Institute of Neurology and Clinical Director of the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen Square, London.
Queen Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of central London. Many of its buildings are associated with medicine, particularly neurology.
Gillian Patricia Bates FMedSci FRS is a British biologist. She is distinguished for her research into the molecular basis of Huntington's disease and in 1998 was awarded the GlaxoSmithKline Prize as a co-discoverer of the cause of this disease. As of 2016, she is Professor of Neurogenetics at UCL Institute of Neurology and the co-director of UCL Huntington's Disease Centre.
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is an NHS foundation trust based in London, United Kingdom. It comprises University College Hospital, University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street, the UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre, the Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals, the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine and the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital.
The National Prion Clinic (UK) is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Its aim is to diagnose and treat patients with any form of human prion disease (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, CJD). In addition, the clinic facilitates research in diagnostics and therapeutics, organises clinical trials, and counsels those with an increased genetic risk of the disease.
Andrew John Lees FRCP FRCP(G) FMedSci is Professor of Neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London and University College London. In 2011 he was named as the world's most highly cited Parkinson's disease researcher.
The Mischer Neuroscience Institute is a combined research and education effort between the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery and the Department of Neurology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann Hospital. Located in Houston, the Institute draws patients from around the world for specialized treatment of diseases of the brain and spine. It was the first center in Texas and one of only a few institutions in the country to fully integrate neurology, neurosurgery, neuroradiology, neuro-oncology, spine surgery, pain medicine and neurorehabilitation.
Michael G Hanna is Director of the UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London and professor in clinical neurology and consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, and also Director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Neuromuscular Disease.
The UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences is a Division within the Faculty of Brain Sciences of University College London (UCL) and is located in London, United Kingdom. The Division offers teaching and training and undertakes research in psychology and communication and allied clinical and basic science. It is the largest university psychology department in England.
Sarah Joanna Tabrizi FMedSci FRS is a British neurologist and neuroscientist in the field of neurodegeneration, particularly Huntington's disease. She is a Professor and Joint Head of the Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the UCL Institute of Neurology; the founder and Director of the UCL Huntington's Disease Centre; a Principal Investigator at the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL; and an Honorary Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, where she established the Multidisciplinary Huntington's Disease Clinic. The UCL Huntington’s Disease Centre was officially opened on 1 March 2017 by UCL President and Provost Professor Michael Arthur.
Dimitri Michael Kullmann is a professor of neurology at the UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London (UCL), and leads the synaptopathies initiative funded by the Wellcome Trust. Kullmann is a member of the Queen Square Institute of Neurology Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy and a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.
Ennapadam Srinivas KrishnamoorthyFRCPS(G)-P, is a neuropsychiatrist with special interests in epilepsy and dementia. He is founder and director of Neurokrish the neuropsychiatry centre and TRIMED - chain of integrative medical specialties based in Chennai, India. He is Professor of Neuropsychiatry, Neurology and Clinical Neuroscience at The Institute of Neurological Sciences, Voluntary Health Services Multispeciality Hospital and Research Institute affiliated to The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University. He is the founder of Buddhi Clinic - a chain of integrative health centers for the brain & mind in Chennai, India.
Elizabeth Mary Claire Fisher is a British geneticist and Professor at University College London. Her research investigates the degeneration of motor neurons during amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease triggered by Down syndrome.
Hugo Critchley is a British professor of psychiatry at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, a partnership of the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex.
Sonia Gandhi is a British physician and neuroscientist who leads the Francis Crick Institute neurodegeneration laboratory. She holds a joint position at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. Her research investigates the molecular mechanisms that give rise to Parkinson's disease. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gandhi was involved with the epidemiological investigations and testing efforts at the Francis Crick Institute.
Martin Neil Rossor, is a British clinical neurologist with a specialty interest in degenerative dementias and familial disease.
Alan J. Thompson, MD, FMedSci, FRCP, FRCPI, is Dean of the Faculty of Brain Sciences at UCL; Pro-Provost for London at UCL; Garfield Weston Professor of Clinical Neurology and Neurorehabilitation at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. He is also a consultant neurologist at the University College London NHS Hospitals Foundation Trust working at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. He is Editor-in-Chief for Multiple Sclerosis Journal.