Mootaz Salman Awarded BHF/UK DRI Group Leader Role to Lead Dementia Research
Mootaz Salman Awarded BHF/UK DRI Group Leader Role to Lead Dementia Research
Mootaz Salman, Group Leader at DPAG and Research Fellow at Wolfson College, has been appointed as a Group Leader within the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) and the British Heart Foundation’s flagship Vascular Dementia Research Centre. This prestigious position comes with an award of £1.5 million to establish a major new research programme at Oxford.
The UK DRI is the UK’s leading biomedical research institute dedicated to neurodegeneration, uniting over 900 researchers across seven national centres. Its mission is to better understand the causes of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and vascular dementia, and to develop effective diagnostics, treatments and prevention strategies.
Mootaz’s research focuses on the blood-brain barrier and how its dysfunction contributes to both neurovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. His appointment marks the first time a UK DRI Group Leader has been hosted at the University of Oxford, strengthening the University’s role in this critical national research effort.
Mootaz said:
'It’s a real privilege to join the UK DRI and the British Heart Foundation as a Group Leader, and to bring the UK DRI to Oxford for the first time. I’m excited to build new collaborations across the UK DRI network and to drive forward impactful research at the interface of the blood-brain barrier and brain disease.'
The new group will be based at DPAG and Oxford BHF Centre for Research Excellence and will work closely with colleagues across Oxford and the wider UK DRI to uncover mechanisms of vascular dysfunction in the brain and identify novel therapeutic targets.
‘This award is a powerful example of the synergy between the UK Dementia Research Institute and the British Heart Foundation in tackling the growing challenge of vascular dementia. We are delighted to welcome Mootaz to the Oxford BHF Centre of Research Excellence, where his innovative work on the blood-brain barrier will add valuable expertise to our mission of advancing cardiovascular and neurovascular research’ comments Professor Keith Channon, Director of the BHF Oxford Centre of Research Excellence.
Since April 2021, Oxford University's Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery is proudly serving as a hub for research groups from seven different departments spanning both the medical and physical sciences, including the Salman Group from the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics.
