Sebastian Brandner MD

I started my research career during Medical School in Göttingen, at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry with Professor Creutzfeldt, where I studied the projection of the thalamocortical auditory system in the cat, resulting in several research publications as first author.

During my postgraduate training in Neuropathology, I joined the Institute of Neuropathology in Zurich, where I started my research on prion disease, resulting in seminal publications in Nature and PNAS. After qualifying as a Consultant Neuropathologist in 1998, I established my own research group and developed mouse models to study neural development and brain tumours. In 2001, I was recruited through the MRC international recruitment scheme to join the MRC Prion Unit at UCL Institute of Neurology.

In 2004 I was appointed as Chair of Neuropathology and Head of the Division of Neuropathology at Queen Square, one of the largest academic neuropathology departments in the UK.

At the MRC Prion Unit and the Institute of Neurology I integrated clinical neuropathology with experimental models on neurodegenerative diseases including prion diseases, which still remain a strong focus in my highly collaborative research. I am an expert on the pathology of both human and experimental models of prion disease worldwide and I maintains a close collaboration with the MRC Prion Unit and the National Prion Clinic at the National Hospital, Queen Square.

I recently conducted a study prevalence screening for the presence of vCJD prions for the HPA, which has major implications for UK policy. At the Institute of Neurology, I also expanded my research on brain tumours which resulted in a number of excellent publications in Development and EMBO Journal. I developed a strong team working on brain cancer, and established close collaborations between UCL Cancer Centre and the Brain Tumour Unit at the National Hospital. I contribute nationally to brain cancer research in my role as council member of the British Neuro-oncology Society. Academic pathology and research on experimental models and their translation to human diseases are recognised key development areas in the UK.