Stephen is a senior research associate in the OAP group and holds a BSc (Liverpool JMU), MSc (University of Liverpool) and PhD (University of Manchester). Prior to joining the group, he had held postdoc positions at the Karolinska Institute and the University of Manchester. He is a cognitive neuroscientist and his principal research interest is understanding the pathological cascade of Alzheimer’s disease in humans with PET biomarkers that measure abnormal brain proteins (e.g. amyloid & tau). Along with the main PET biomarkers used in dementia research, he is also interested in understanding the role astrocytes play in the pathological cascade by using novel PET biomarkers that can measure astrocyte function in vivo.

Maria is a researcher in the Lewy Body Disorders Research Group and is working primarily on the MILOS study. Her research interests are in neuropsychology and dementia. She holds a BSc Hons Degree in Psychology and a PhD (Doctor Europaeus) in Neuroscience awarded by the University of Padova (Italy). Before joining the Old Age Psychiatry research group she worked as a clinical neuropsychologist and researcher in several international neurorehabilitation and research centres with patients with neurodegenerative diseases.  

Marialena is a research associate in the group and is working on multi-modal brain MR imaging analysis in the PREVENT-Dementia study. She holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Patras (Greece), an MSc in Bioengineering from the University of Nottingham (UK) and a PhD in Neuroimaging from the University of Sheffield (UK).

Her research focus is on brain haemodynamic analysis using arterial spin labelling MRI and on structural image processing in a mid-aged population at risk of dementia. Her work prior to joining the group was focused on multi-modal MR imaging in type-2 diabetes mellitus.

George is a Research Associate and study coordinator in the Cambridge Centre for Parkinson-Plus Syndromes. He is currently supporting research studies investigating in vivo synaptic density, tau burden and the role of inflammation in dementia and movement disorders. He holds a PhD from the Institute of Psychiatry (King’s College London) and MSc from the University of Oxford. Prior work before joining the group included investigating the cognitive and emotional profile of users of novel psychoactive substances; information-processing biases in psychosis; and the behavioural effects of manipulating the neurotransmitter serotonin.

Elijah is a Junior Research Fellow, funded by the Alzheimer’s Society UK, and a former Gates Cambridge scholar. His fellowship aims to determine whether Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density imaging (NODDI) could detect cortical microstructure changes (i.e. dendritic arborisation) in dementia with Lewy bodies, and understand their associations with concomitant Alzheimer’s disease pathologies using PET imaging of amyloid and tau. His broader research interests are in the application of multi-modal neuroimaging biomarkers to unravel the complex landscape of disease-related changes in neurodegenerative conditions and preclinical dementia. Before his current position, he obtained his PhD on neuroimaging in Lewy body diseases at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, and completed a post-baccalaureate MRI Fellowship at the University of Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Centre, New York, and the National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore.

Audrey is a a Research Associate at the Stroke Research Group (University of Cambridge) and was the recipient of the 2023 “Rising Star Award” from the Alzheimer’s Society, UK. Her research focuses on the role of cerebrovascular dysfunction in dementia and cognitive impairment, using multimodal neuroimaging techniques and clinical data in humans. She was recently awarded her PhD under the supervision of Professor John O’Brien and Professor Hugh Markus, researching how cerebral small vessel disease relates to midlife dementia risk factors and molecular imaging markers of dementia (e.g., amyloid, tau, neuroinflammation) to elucidate how various pathologies interact in their contribution to neurodegeneration and clinical outcomes. In her current role, her research focuses on the associations and interplay between cerebral small vessel disease, inflammation, and blood brain barrier permeability.

Prior to her PhD, Audrey earned her BA (Hons) in Psychology from the National University of Singapore, where she also worked as a research assistant. After obtaining her degree, she worked at the National Neuroscience Institute (Singapore) where she conducted and coordinated dementia research. On top of academic and clinical research, she also has experience working in the government sector conducting behavioural research as well as healthcare policy research. 

James studied medicine at Cambridge and Oxford before doing a Neurosciences Academic Foundation Programme in Cambridge and a Neurology Academic Clinical Fellowship in Manchester. During his PhD in Cognitive Neurosciences, funded on a Wellcome Clinical PhD Fellowship, he used fMRI and neuropsychological testing to investigate the neural compensatory mechanisms underlying aphasia recovery post-stroke. James has a longstanding research interest in the preclinical phase of dementia and ways to promote cognitive recovery, using neuroimaging and neuromodulation. He is currently a psychiatry registrar on a dual Old Age/General Adult programme.

Axel studied medicine and neuroscience at the University of Dundee, graduating in 2019. After completing the academic foundation programme in Edinburgh, he moved to Cambridge as an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow and to train as a psychiatrist. Recently, he was one of the first trainees to complete the NIHR Associate Principal Investigator scheme by recruiting participants for a dementia trial. He is interested in using clinical and neuroimaging data from cohort studies such as PREVENT-Dementia to better understand biomarkers of dementia.