Queen Mary University of London

Academic Institute

OFHS260043

The study's aim is to identify the relationship between genetics, the world around us, and brain health. We will focus on how genes and other factors contribute to the development of common brain disorders, including dementia, Parkinson's disease and Multiple Sclerosis. We hope this study will help improve the diagnosis and prediction of common brain diseases and help discover new medicines to prevent or treat these disorders. Common brain disorders such as dementia, Parkinson's disease, and Multiple Sclerosis affect over 1 million people in the UK and account for substantial health economic cost such as reduced working hours, greater health and social care support as people with these conditions become more disabled over time. There are no effective medicines for preventing these disorders. Prevention trials are challenging to conduct for two main reasons: 1) lack of effective drugs, 2) difficulty identifying individuals at high risk. Understanding the way that genes contribute to these disorders helps address both challenges. Drug targets for prevention are more likely to be successful with genetic support, and genetic prediction of future disease risk is powerful way to identify high risk cohorts. Our study will assess the contribution of differences in genes and ‘lifestyle’ factors – such as smoking, obesity, and high blood pressure - to the development of common brain disorders, particularly dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and Multiple Sclerosis. By combining these findings with previous work, we will better understand how genes shape disease risk, develop and validate methods for predicting the onset of common brain diseases, identify modifiable risk factors, and explore the impact of genetic ancestry and social determinants of health.

The core aim of our research is to lay the groundwork for preventing common brain disorders - dementia, Parkinson's disease, and Multiple Sclerosis. These disorders affect over a million people living in the UK, are incurable, and account for a substantial health economic cost due to their impact on healthy working lifespan and their impact on the health and social care sectors. Our study will aim to develop a better understanding of how genetic differences and lifestyle factors - such as smoking, obesity and high blood pressure - shape disease risk. We will use this knowledge to make tools which can predict how likely someone is to develop these disorders over their lifetime. Using these tools, we will be able to find groups of people who are most likely to benefit from drugs or treatments which researchers think might reduce the risk of disease.

Public Health Research

09/10/2026

11/06/2026

TRE