Introduction

The Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases (WCARD) led by Professor Marzia Malcangio is an academic department embedded within the Division of Neuroscience of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN).  

The WCARD presents a dynamic environment composed by more than 20 interactive groups to deliver our mission to maintain the nervous system healthy as we age and to repair the damage that follows injury.

Research in the Department

Current research themes at the WCARD include Chronic Pain, Hearing loss and NeuroRegeneration, which are addressed using translational models of disease (Neuropathic pain, Stroke, Spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, Diabetes, Arthritis, Fibromyalgia) , electrophysiology and imaging (patch-clamp; fMRI/microPET; in situ hybridization; autoradiography; mitochondrial activity), drug discovery and innovative therapeutics (high throughput screening; gene therapy), sequencing and bioinformatics (RNA seq, Microarray, Robotic devices, Machine Learning).

The chronic pain research theme aims to delineate new pathways and mechanisms and identify innovative targets in neurons and non-neuronal cell.

The regeneration theme aims to restore function after injury by developing regenerative therapies that target glial scar, inflammation and facilitate spontaneous repair.

The Hearing research theme studies human and mouse genetics to understand the pathology of age-related hearing loss.

Our long-term goal is to make an impact to the quality of life of patients affected by age-related diseases of the nervous system. Our research is geared towards i) understanding molecular mechanisms that drive disease conditions and ii) harness our scientific knowledge to develop new therapeutic strategies to restore normal sensory function and to better repair injury.