Professor Siddharthan Chandran is the head of Division of Clinical Neurosciences. Professor Chandran is Professor of Neurology at the University of Edinburgh working in the emerging discipline of regenerative neurology interested in neurodegeneration, stem cells and brain repair.
Professor Chandran is also the Director of the Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences. He was previously Consultant Neurologist, University Lecturer and Fellow of Kings College at the University of Cambridge. He trained in medicine at Southampton University subsequently undertaking neurology training at University College London Hospitals, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London and Cambridge University Hospitals. Awarded a PhD in developmental neurobiology in 2000, University of Cambridge.
Professor Chandran took up as Head of Division on 1st September.
The Division of Clinical Neurosciences (DCN) of the University of Edinburgh is a department in the School of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, based at the Lothian University Hospitals Trust, Western General Hospital site.
The Division was formed in 1988 by the amalgamation of the Departments of Surgical and Medical Neurology. In 1988 the unified department was brought together on the Western General Hospital site.
The Stroke Research Group are working on the causes, treatment and prevention of cerebrovascular disorders. We have programmes of research on epidemiology, imaging, systematic reviews and clinical trials in stroke treatment and prevention. We also work on health services research projects on stroke service development and delivery. The major ongoing trials are evaluating clot-busting therapy for stroke (IST3), better ways to prevent thrombo-embolism after stroke (CLOTS) and cooling therapy for acute stroke. The Cochrane Stroke Group works with over 450 individuals in 26 countries.to produce and regulary update an ever-expanding portfolio of 120 systematic reviews on treatments for stroke. These programmes make the Stroke Group one of the largest and best recognised in the field internationally.
The Brain Imaging group supports all other groups within CCBS concentrated in the SFC Brain Imaging Research Centre (SBIRC,http://www.sbirc.ed.ac.uk/), but also interacting at the Clinical Research Imaging Centre 3T MR and the animal 7T MR scanner. There is world leading expertise in assessment of hyperacute ischaemic stroke, pathophysiology of lacunar stroke, cerebral haemorrhage, the effects of ageing on the brain, and assessing the effects of new treatments such as thrombolysis and hypothermia for stroke. Other major interests include structural and functional differences in psychosis, autism, motor neuron disease, neuro-oncology, and normal psychology. There is substantial expertise in diffusion and perfusion imaging, permeability imaging, tractography, magnetisation transfer imaging, spectroscopy, detailed structural and functional imaging, including simultaneous EEG. SBIRC also leads the Scottish Imaging Network: A Platform for Scientific Excellence (SINAPSE,www.sinapse.ac.uk), a major investment by the Scottish Funding Council and 6 Scottish Universities (£40million) to improve the infrastructure for neuroimaging research in Scotland.
The National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit (NCJDSU) was established in 1990, in response to the UK Government's concerns about the risk of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in human diet. Continuing NCJDSU surveillance (and associated research) has provided key epidemiological data (including risk-factors), and further characterised the clinical and diagnostic features, for vCJD, sporadic CJD and other prion diseases-resulting in a unique database on prion disease in the UK. The development of neuropathology, prion protein, molecular genetic and CSF laboratories within NCJDSU has enabled the identification of important molecular and genetic features. Current work includes investigating the risk of secondary transmission of vCJD via blood, blood products and surgery (including dentistry). NCJDSU is a WHO Reference Centre for prion disease, coordinates a European collaborative group and has important relationships with ECDC (European Centre for Disease Control). A close collaborative relationship with the Roslin Institute has resulted in innovative work on the nature of the infective agent and the potential public health implications.
Members of the University Division of Clinical Neurosciences contribute to the work of the NHS Department of Clinical Neurosciences to provide the hospital with an integrated and comprehensive neuroscience service for patients with disorders of the nervous system. This requires close co-operation between neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists and many other disciplines. Excellent clinical services help to underpin world class research in many of these disciplines. The Neurosciences teams treat patients from Edinburgh, Lothian, Fife, Forth Valley, the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway.
The Division also works very closely with the Stroke Service and the Managed Clinical Network for Stroke, a partnership that both improves the quality of service to patients and underpins internationally-recognised programmes of clinical research.