• In 1987, following the award of her Royal Society Research Fellowship, the then Dr Nancy Rothwell relocated to Manchester from London, and so the story of the Brain Inflammation Group began to take shape. Nancy’s work at that time was focussed on understanding the regulation of energy balance, obesity and cachexia, but a series of experiments performed in the early 1990’s led to a change of direction towards the field of neurodegeneration. These experiments were the first to show that blocking the cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1) was protective in rodent models of acute brain injury. This and other work led to MRC Programme Grant funding in 1993 to further investigate the role of interleukin-1 in neurodegeneration. Continued funding success over the subsequent few years saw Nancy’s research group grow in size, with a focus on both the role of cytokines in brain injury and in fever. Renewal of the MRC Programme Grant in 1998 was testimony to the continued high-level research in the group, alongside increasing international collaborations. Being part of EU consortia and other networks led to an influx of young researchers from overseas, many of whom have gone on to establish their own groups.

    Research on inflammation and neurodegeneration gradually became the sole focus of the group and in the late 1990’s exciting new collaborations were established with clinicians Pippa Tyrrell and Andy King at Hope Hospital (now Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust). These collaborations led to a clinical trial of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist in ischaemic stroke. A second successive renewal of the MRC Programme funding was achieved in 2003, providing another 5 years of support to further understand how inflammation contributes to neurodegenerative disease. At this time researchers from the group in the 1990s had started to establish themselves as independent PIs in other Universities/institutes, moved to industry, or taken up alternative careers, mostly science related. So was born a network of alumni which grows ever bigger to this day, with an inaugural lab reunion in 2004, to coincide with Nancy becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society. Reunions in 2009 and 2018 have followed, where stories old and new were exchanged, helped along by a drink or two.

    Through the noughties several members of the lab obtained their own academic positions in Manchester and so the size of the group increased, as did the scope of the research, with increasing focus on chronic neurodegenerative disease alongside stroke. Around the same time the group developed and ran a number of innovative public engagement activities, really leading the way in this area, something that is still very much at the core of the group.

    Over the last 10 years the group has continued to develop its research, with increasing focus on whole body immune and inflammatory changes that contribute to stroke and dementia, as well as fundamental mechanisms of inflammation. The group also saw a big change when Nancy became President and Vice-Chancellor of the University in 2010, meaning she had much less time for research, though she still manages to make it along to weekly lab meetings. The group has welcomed several new PIs in recent years and with a steady stream of new graduate students and early career researchers, many from overseas, the Brain Inflammation Group continues to develop.

Principal Investigators

  • Prof Dame Nancy Rothwell

    Previous UoM President and Vice-Chancellor

  • Prof Stuart Allan

    Professor of Neuroscience

    Understanding the role of immune and inflammatory responses in stroke and vascular dementia

  • Prof Dave Brough

    Professor of Neuroscience

    Understanding the regulation of inflammation and how it affects disease

  • Prof Cath Lawrence

    Professor of Neuroscience

    Investigating the role of inflammation in outcome after stroke and dementia, and understanding how co-morbidity influences this

  • Prof Craig Smith

    Professor of Stroke Medicine

    Understanding how infection and inflammation contribute to stroke risk, pathophysiology and clinical outcomes after stroke, including post-stroke cognitive decline.

  • Prof Adrian Parry-Jones

    Professor of Vascular Neurology

    Improving outcomes after intracerebral haemorrhage through understating pathophysiology, developing novel therapies and optimising clinical care

  • Dr Emmanuel Pinteaux

    Reader of Neuroscience

    Investigation of mechanisms of acute and chronic inflammation, as well as repair process of the brain after CNS injury

  • Dr Ingo Schiessl

    Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience

    Pre-clinical imaging of blood flow, the blood brain barrier and neuronal activity. Using methods like in-vivo multi-photon imaging, laser speckle imaging and intrinsic optical imaging my lab investigates the early changes during inflammation, ischaemia and neurodegenerative diseases.

  • Dr Paul Kasher

    Senior Lecturer of Neuroscience

    My group is interested in using pre-clinical systems to study disease mechanisms and therapeutic avenues in ICH and stroke

  • Dr Rob Wykes

    Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience

    We develop and apply innovative neuroscience technologies, including wide bandwidth electrophysiology, multi-modal imaging, neuromodulation and gene therapy to study and treat pathological brain activity in a number of neurological disorders including epilepsy, stroke and glioblastoma

  • Dr Roy Chun-laam Ng

    Lecturer in Neuroimmunology

    My research focuses on translational research to restore microglia functions in age-related neurodegeneration, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. Understanding how microglia metabolism regulates associated neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases. Developing preclinical models for drug testing

  • Dr Gloria Lopez-Castejon

    Senior Lecturer in Inflammation

    Understanding how immune cells sense and respond to danger signals

  • Dr Juan Quintana

    Investigating neuroimmune interactions and hypothalamic responses during chronic inflammation, and how these interactions shape circadian behaviour (including feeding) and sleep.

  • Dr Doug Dyer

    Sir Henry Dale Fellow

    My lab is focused on using biochemistry, biophysics and in vivo biology to study chemokines, the glycocalyx and inflammatory disease. In particular how chemokines and the glycocalyx barrier collaboratively regulate leukocyte recruitment to the brain.

  • Dr Andy Greenhalgh

    MRC Career Development Award Fellow

    My lab investigates the neuroimmunology of brain injury and disease. We have a special interest in mild traumatic brain injury, often referred to as concussion, from its fundamental immunobiology to neuroimaging in elite athletes

  • Dr Ben Dickie

    Senior Research Fellow & Senior Experimental Officer

    Development and validation of novel neurovascular MRI biomarkers for application in dementia, stroke, and oncology

  • Dr Kieron South

    Stroke Association Lecturer

    Thromboinflammation, infection preceding stroke in young adults, novel thrombolytic development

  • Dr Sarah Ryan

    Alzheimer’s Society Future Leaders Fellow

    Investigating the role of microglia in frontotemporal dementia and motor neuron disease

  • Dr Katie Murray

    BHF Centre of Excellence Transition Fellow

    Investigating the impact of intracerebral haemorrhage on cell-cell interactions using intravital imaging strategies

  • Dr Harry Pritchard

    Alzheimer’s Society Future Leaders Fellow

    Vascular physiologist trying to elucidate the mechanism behind the reduction in cerebral blood flow in neurodegenerative diseases

  • Dr Kira Shaw

    Wellcome Trust Career Development Award Fellow

    In vivo imaging of neurovascular coupling in Alzheimer’s disease risk and progression

  • Dr Jack Green

    BHF Centre of Excellence Transition Fellow

    Elucidating fundamental mechanisms behind how physical and mechanical forces influence inflammatory and immune responses

  • Dr Chris Hoyle

    Sir Robert Boyd Research Fellow

    Addressing the cellular mechanisms of NLRP3 regulation in health and disease, including age-related inflammation

Management & Lab Support

  • Dr Josie Hendon

    Research Programme Manager

    Providing strategic and management oversight and support to BIG and the Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centre

  • Dr Graham Coutts

    Senior Research Technician

  • Laura Parker

    Research Technician

    My work supports research into the neurovascular mechanisms linking menopause-related vascular changes to increased Alzheimer’s disease risk

  • Teodora Smiljevska

    Research Technician

    Investigating the therapeutic potential of ACE2 enhancement in Alzheimer’s disease

  • Grace Cullen

    Research Technician

Junior Fellows & Post-doctoral researchers

  • Dr Jack Green

    Research Associate

    Investigating the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of Inflammasomes and inflammatory signalling pathways

  • Dr Mike Haley

    Research Associate

    Understanding the role of neuroinflammation in cerebral oedema, experimental cerebral malaria and brain tumours

  • Dr Anna Gray

    Research Associate

    Using intravital imaging to investigate the composition and dynamics of the endothelial glycocalyx in health and disease

  • Dr Alejandro Labastida Ramirez

    Research Associate

    Understanding the role of cortical spreading depolarizations in epilepsy, stroke and migraine

  • Dr Victor Tapia Olivares

    Research Associate

    Investigating the role of cholesterol metabolism in intracerebral haemorrhage

  • Dr Sam Flaherty

    Research Associate

  • Dr Lorena Fernandes

    Research Associate

    Investigating the role of nanoparticles as drug carriers in in vivo stroke models

  • Dr Oriana Mandolfo

    Research Associate

    Enhancing ACE2 activity with methazolamide as a new way to treat Alzheimer's disease

  • Dr Sabrina Tamburrano

    Research Associate

    Understanding the role of perivascular macrophages and oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of stroke

  • Dr Ioana-Emilia Mosneag

    Research Associate

    Developing a new tracer to detect amyloid beta in vivo using MRI

  • Dr Mary Newland

    Research Associate

    Understanding immune and inflammatory changes in the tissue microenvironment in the brain following haemorrhagic stroke

  • Dr Emily McMahon

    Research Associate

    Using zebrafish to study the ultra-rare neurodevelopmental condition Faundes-Banka syndrome (FABAS) and to explore the therapeutic potential of existing drugs

  • Dr Grace Gregory

    Research Associate

    Computational biologist investigating how immune cells contribute to the growth of brain tumours in the rare disease NF2-related schwannomatosis

  • Dr Nina Conlon

    Research Associate

    Investigating post stroke cognitive impairment and dementia as a result of neurovascular uncoupling in stroke

  • Dr Jake Cashion

    Evaluating therapeutics to restore cerebral blood flow in hypertension-induced vascular dementia

PhD Students

  • Ivy Usansky

    Lawrence Lab

    Investigating the effect of obesity as a comorbidity in stroke, specifically investigating the impairment to the endothelial glycocalyx

  • Annet Nakkazi

    Dickie Lab

    Understanding the effects of radiotherapy on the blood brain barrier and how that contributes to cognitive dysfunction

  • Maryam Salaudeen

    Pinteaux Lab

    Understanding the mechanisms by which primed mesenchymal stem cells play beneficial roles in hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury

  • Natasha Carmichael

    Smith Lab

    Investigating the association between the peripheral innate immune system and post-stroke cognitive decline

  • H Barker

    Brough Lab

    Understanding and targeting AIM2 inflammasome responses in cardiovascular disease

  • Abi Bennington

    Kasher Lab

    Investigating the role of cholesterol metabolism in modulating the inflammatory response after haemorrhagic stroke

  • Chiara Ramponi

    South Lab

    Understanding how neutrophils and thromboinflammatory processes are modulated by caADAMTS13 in intracerebral haemorrhage

  • Susie Ford

    Brough Lab

    Understanding and targeting the regulation of Interleukin-1B secretion, with consideration of the extracellular matrix

  • Harry Deijnen

    Investigating the association between peripheral blood immune status post-stroke and the development of vascular dementia

  • Nima Geemon

    Kasher Lab

    Characterising the NLRP3 inflammasome response in a zebrafish model of ICH

  • Thea Danby

    Greenstein Lab

    Investigating ryanodine receptor and BK channel coupling in vascular smooth muscle cells within health and dementia

  • Margi Baptista

    Pinteaux Lab

    Researching the cell-specific role of interleukin-1β during cerebrovascular inflammation after stroke

  • Zheqin Li

    South Lab

    Investigating the association between stroke and Chronic Peripheral Inflammatory Diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis

  • Kirstin Lowe

    Dyer Lab

    Understanding the role of CNS-macrophage CXCL4 and the extracellular matrix in neuroinflammation

  • Joe Cooper

    Lawrence Lab

    My research focuses on the role that perivascular macrophages, which are macrophages that reside along blood vessels within the brain, have in intracerebral haemorrhage

  • Ellen Gray

    Allan Lab

    Investigating peripheral inflammation and its impact on post stroke cognitive decline

  • Miruna Burduja

    Lawrence Lab

    Investigating the role of the endothelial glycocalyx in vascular dementia and cerebral small vessel disease

  • Ben Llewellyn

    Brough Lab

    Investigating mechanisms of NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages

  • Juan Sebastian Bermudez

    Dickie Lab

    Investigating the mechanisms of glymphatic water exchange with MRI-informed biophysical models

  • Charlotte Sutherland

    Ryan Lab

    Investigating neuroinflammation and blood-brain barrier integrity in frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

  • Mariapia Grassia

    Murray Lab

    Investigating the effects of intracerebral haemorrhage on myelination using optical imaging of the live mammalian brain

  • Paulina Jael Villaseñor

    Lawrence Lab

    Understanding the mechanisms of brain inflammation and ageing using advanced MRI methods

  • Ellie Benford

    Smith Lab

    Investigating the role of infection and B cell immunity in post-stroke cognitive decline

  • Sophie Jenkins

    Wykes Lab

    Investigating the mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment associated with medications used to treat seizures in epilepsy

  • Kirsty Randalls

    Pritchard Lab

    Investigating how impaired BK channels contribute to reduced cerebral blood flow in dementia

  • Will Hylton

    Allan Lab

    Investigating immune mediated pathways contributing to post-stroke cognitive decline

  • Stefanny Calixto Da Silva

    Allan Lab

    Developing new acute treatments for ischemic stroke by targeting the cytokine interleukin-1

  • Frances Hedley

    Kasher Lab

    Investigating the effects and mechanisms of RAS inhibitor treatment on intracerebral haemorrhage

  • Luiseach Gillespie

    Ng Lab

    Understanding how different APOE variants alter risk of Alzheimer's disease through the role of microglial ferroptosis

  • Hope Shipley

    South Lab

    Investigating the influence of inflammation on ischaemic stroke thrombus composition and its importance in the application of novel thrombolytics

  • Anisha Sivakumar

    Murray Lab

    Investigating Cerebral Microinfarcts and Vascular Plasticity in a Mouse Model of Hypertension

  • Dylan Lowe

    Wykes Lab

    Developing wireless biocompatible graphene field effect transistors to study infra-slow oscillations in hippocampus of freely moving mice

We are BIG on equal opportunities and providing an inclusive environment for our researchers, attracting members from all over the world!

Check out the nationalities that we host in BIG below

Past BIG lab members

  • Ros Le Feuvre

    Angela Cooper

    Nick Busbridge

    Paul Strijbos

    Jane Relton

    Allan Sudlow

    Andy Turnbull

    Susie Roe

    Catherine Lawrence

    Sarah Loddick

    Andy Miller

    LeeAnne Rothwell

    Aedin Culhane

    Erinma Ochu

    Jason Gardner

    Victoria Pearson

    Rob Grundy

    Lisa Parker

    Sarah Thompson

    Helen Ashdown

    Jonathan Moore

    Rachel Wheeler

    David Brough

    Kate Ellacott

    Libby Oakden

    Hiren Patel

    Jerard Ross

    Marc Watson

    Ralph Andre

    Craig Smith

    Hedley Emsley

    Chris Stock

    Nicola Wilson

    Sian-Marie Lucas

    Simon Clark

    Penglian Wang

    Adrian-Parry Jones

    Peter Thornton

    Rob Skinner

    Lisa McCluskey

    Niki Tsakiris

    Jennifer Rutter

    Nadia Luheshi

    Harsimrren Kaur

    James Galea

    Katie Chapman

    Andy Greenhalgh

    Elysse Knight

    Lauren Summers

    Loan Nguyen

    Caroline Drake

    Emily Robinson

    Ben Small

    Sophie Leow-Dyke

    Johann Selvarajah

    Catherine McMahon

    Cat Savage

    Fiona Britton

    James Giles

    Hannah Buggey

    Katie Murray

    Michael Haley

    Fiona Burrows

    Isaura Martins

    Michelle Edye

    Natasha Bray

    Rebecca Montacute

    Bea Rodriguez-grande

    Rachel-Anne Pipe

    Kamran Abid

    Cat Diamond

    Aisling Chaney

    Korakoch Kangwantas (Bo)

    Holly Summersgill

    Catriona Cunningham

    Mike Daniels

    Olivera RajkovicIvana Rajkovic

    Matthew Dewhurst

    Olauwaseun Sobowale

    Siddharth Krishnan

    Conor O'Boyle

    Amy Bradley

    Jack Barrington

    Alex Baldwin

    Claire White

    Siobhan Crilly

    Chris Hoyle

    Arthur Yushi

    Hannah Thurgur

    Victor Tapia

    Tessa Swanton

    Danielle Bochicchio

    James Cook

    Ohud Saleh

    Suparna Das

    Roxana Sava

    Faye Bolan

    Bali Lee

    Sam Drinkall

    Sarah Withers

    Ruth Stephens

    Jade Taylor

    Maddy Hurry

    Josie Thomas

    Lucy Roberts

    Sabrina Tamburrano

    Rose Wellens

    Ioana-Emilia Mosneag

    Jill Merlini

    Will Harris

    Katy Walsh

    Lowri Evans

    Daisy Flatman

    Tara Gleeson

    Grace Gregory

    Nadim Luka

    Billie Matchett

    Emily McMahon

    Mary Newland

    Ran Zhou (Stella)

    Adam Jones

    Leoma Bere

    Rachel Jones

    Nina Conlon

  • Giamal Luheshi

    Sylvie Toulmond

    Mary Di Mauro

    Christine Davies

    Eileen McGowan

    Paul Stroemer

    Tam Cartmell

    Sharon Smith

    Herve Boutin

    Omar Touzani

    Paco Molina-Holgado

    Mark Craighead

    Carine Ali

    Fiona Ross

    Rosemary Gibson

    Dominique Lerouet

    Anastasia Simi

    Barry McColl

    Penny Man

    Adam Denes

    Olov Nilsson

    Sarah Fredriksson

    Jesus Pradillo

    Sasidhar Murikinati

    Natalia Gorenkova

    Samaneh Maysami

    Jack Rivers Auty

    Hazel Ball

    Esther Dalko

    Georgia Coleman

    Charlotte Allen

    Sylvie Girard

    Lucy Morris

    Eloise Lemarchand

    Elena Redondo-Castro

    Siobhan Crilly

    Caoimhe Kirby

    Raymond Wong

    Lucy Roberts

    Alba Grayston Morales

    Tom Williams

    Paula Seoane Denicola

  • Joan Clark

    Angela Blagbrough

    Deb Bentley

    Louise Hewitt

    Anthea Hughes

    Dave Rushforth

    Helen Anforth

    Joanne Hunt

    Nick Mulcahy

    Ralph Davies

    Laura Gregory

    Beth Wilde

    Sarrwat Malik

    Kelly Middlehurst

    Sally Shepherd

    Jane Kott

    Barry Collins

    Lorraine Schmidt

    Pete Stanley

    Sarah Gumusgoz

    Sally Shelmerdine

    MJ Maynard