Wolfson Neuroscience Laboratories

Our mission

To advance knowledge of the pathogenetic mechanisms of neurological disease through multidisciplinary laboratory studies.

One of the major goals of the Centre for Neuroscience at Imperial College is to improve our understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms that underlie disorders of the developing and mature nervous system and to translate this knowledge into novel therapeutic approaches.

In order to bring together specialists covering a wide range of disciplines including neurodevelopment, neurogenetics, neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, neuroimmunology and neuroendocrinology, laboratory based neuroscience research in the Faculty of Medicine has now been relocated to the newly built Wolfson Neuroscience Laboratories in the Burlington Danes building on the Hammersmith Hospital Campus.

The new facility is well equipped for studies at the genetic, molecular, cellular and systems levels and promotes a translational approach by including clinical research teams. The laboratories also house the national tissues banks for Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease as well as tissue collections for Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Schizophrenia. Our translational approach to CNS disease pathogenesis is enhanced by the presence of the Centre for Pharmacology and Therapeutics and the GSK Clinical Imaging Centre in the Burlington Danes building.

Burlington Danes at Hammersmith Campus

Our goal is also to promote collaborative research on an interdepartmental, national and international scale.

The main research objectives of members of the Wolfson Neuroscience laboratories are to:

1. Investigate the genetic, molecular and cellular basis of neuronal and glial development and dysfunction in the central nervous system (CNS);
2. Further our understanding of the molecular mechanisms responsible for neuronal and glial damage and degeneration in key neurological conditions including Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Stroke and Schizophrenia;
3. Investigate the role of inflammation in major CNS disorders and the influence of the interface between the peripheral immune system, the neuroendocrine system and innate CNS immunity;
4. Translate fundamental studies on neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation into novel neuroprotective and immunomodulatory therapeutic approaches for MS, PD, AD, ALS and stroke;
5. Promote the use of in vivo experimental models and human post-mortem tissues in research into disease mechanisms.

The academic staff of the Wolfson Neuroscience Laboratories are major contributors to the Undergraduate and Postgraduate teaching programmes in Neuroscience, Neurology, Pharmacology and Endocrinology at Imperial College.