The People
Robin Franklin
Robin Franklin is Professor of Neuroscience at the university of Cambridge and Director of the MS Society Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair . He obtained both his undergraduate degrees from the University of London, a physiology degree from University College London (1985) and a degree in veterinary medicine from The Royal Veterinary College (1988). His subsequent career has been at the University of Cambridge, first as a Wellcome Trust student, obtaining a PhD in experimental neuropathology (1992), then as a Wellcome Trust-funded post-doctoral fellow, a research career development fellow, Lecturer and Senior Lecturer. During his research career he has been interested in
Central Nervous System (CNS) repair mechanisms and primarily in the biology of
myelin repair. There are currently 11 post-doctoral scientists and PhD students in his laboratory, two of whom are funded by The Multiple Sclerosis Society, and all working on various aspects of myelin repair.
Siddharthan Chandran
An MRC Clinical Scientist Fellow and neurologist working at the University of Cambridge. Siddharthan trained at UCL at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square and Cambridge. His PhD from Cambridge is in neural
stem cell biology. Siddharthan’s research focus is stem cell regenerative medicine with a view to clinical application in terms of repair for MS.
Alasdair Coles
A neurologist working in Cambridge on experimental treatments in MS. His main project is coordinating the current multi-centre US-European trial of
beta- interferon and
Campath 1-H in early active relapsing-remitting MS (The CAMMS223 Trial). Campath-1H is a monoclonal antibody that was originally made in the basic science laboratories of the University of Cambridge and first used in MS by Professor Compston and Dr Coles in the neurology department there. Alasdair tries to continue this tradition by providing a link between basic scientists with ideas about novel therapies and clinicians working in the field of MS. He and colleagues also study the behaviour of immune cells taken from people with MS after treatment with immunotherapies, to try to understand how and why they change MS disease activity.
Alastair Compston
Alastair Compston moved to Cambridge as Professor of Neurology in 1989 and was Chairman of the Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair from 1992-2002. Alastair trained in medicine at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School (now UCL) and in neurology at the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square. Alastair was Consultant Neurologist in Cardiff from 1982 and Professor of Neurology at the University of Wales from 1986, before moving to Cambridge as Professor of Neurology in 1989. His research interests are in the genetics and biology of human and experimental
demyelinating disease. He is a former President of the European Neurological Society and currently Chairman of the Neurosciences and Mental Health panel of the Wellcome Trust.
James Fawcett
Chairman of the Cambridge University Centre for Brain Repair and Director of Medical Studies at Kings College Cambridge. James trained in medicine at Oxford University and St. Thomas Hospital London, then practised in hospital medicine for four years, latterly in
autoimmune disease. His PhD studies were in the development of the visual connections in the nervous system at the National Institute for Medical Research in London. Following this he joined the Salk Institute (California), first as a visiting fellow, later as a junior faculty member. James became increasingly interested in applying developmental principles to the discovery of treatments for the repair of the damaged brain and spinal cord, and when he set up his laboratory at Cambridge University he decided to concentrate on this area. His main interest has been the inhibition of
nerve fibre regeneration by scar tissue, and particularly the part played by inhibitory proteoglycan
molecules produced by scar tissue in blocking regeneration. He has also worked on brain grafting, brain development, myelination and stem cells.
Charles ffrench-Constant
Professor of Neurological Genetics in the University of Cambridge Department of Medical Genetics. Charles is also chairman of the Action Research Charity scientific advisory panel and will be a member of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Neurosciences panel from April 2005. He trained in medicine at Cambridge and London, acquiring the MRCP and becoming a Neurology resident at the University College London Hospitals. He started his scientific career and interest in MS research as a PhD student in 1984, followed by post-doc training in
extracellular matrix molecular biology. He then returned to clinical work in 1991 to complete training and gain accreditation in Medical Genetics whilst holding a Wellcome Trust Senior Clinical fellowship. Charles became a consultant in 1996 and Professor in 1999. He currently runs a research group focussed on the role of
integrins and their extracellular matrix ligands in
oligodendrocyte precursor and neural stem cell biology.
Maria Grazia Spillantini
A Reader in Molecular Neurology at the University of Cambridge and is an official fellow. After studying biological sciences at the University of Florence, Maria pursued research at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology of the University of Florence, at the Unité de Neurobiologie of the INSERM in Paris and at the Molecular Neurobiology Unit of the MRC in Cambridge. In 1987, Maria moved to the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, where she obtained a PhD in Molecular Biology from University of Cambridge. In 1996 she moved to the Brain Repair Centre and Department of Neurology where she is at present.
William Blakemore
Professor of Neuropathology at the University of Cambridge. William qualified in Bristol in 1964 and then studied
pathology at Cambridge, before gaining a PhD at London studying the reactions of the brain to experimental injuries. He returned to Cambridge to undertake post-doctoral work and gain experience of veterinary neuropathology. William was awarded a Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship to continue research into reactions of the brain to the pathology of naturally occurring diseases of the CNS. He was appointed lecturer in Ultrastructural Pathology in 1978, Reader in Neuropathology in 1995 and Professor of Neuropathology of the University of Cambridge in 1998. William’s major research focus has been
remyelination in the CNS and the current focus is evaluation of
glial cell transplantation as a therapy for demyelinating diseases.
