Good news for our neuroimaging research

Time for a neuroimaging research update with personnel and infrastructure developments.

Firstly, our Senior Lecturer Neeraj Saxena  has good news. He has successfully secured NISCHR AHSC Clinical Research Time, giving him protected research time and enabling him to apply for major grants. The research builds upon his work investigating mechanisms of anaesthetic drug induced sedation, anaesthesia and analgesia and he will apply this to conditions like postoperative delirium.  His first experiment exploits magentoencepaholography comparing the effect of sedatives propofol (GABAergic) and dexmedetomidine (nonGABAergic), on the electrical activity of the parts of the brain involved in vision.  His second experiment exploits the functional the ability of MRI to segregate the parts of the brain involved in sedation and pain relief with dexmedetomidine.

As to infrastructure, Cardiff University is investing in a state-of-the-art, future-proofed neuro-imaging centre: CUBRIC 2.   An important development for Anaesthetics, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine as neuroimaging is one of our major research areas. We have Reader Ann Taylor, and two Senior Lecturers Sharmila Khot and Neeraj working in the area,  along-side CUBRIC academics Richard Wise and Krish Singh.  The new build will certainly produce new research developments.

Our academic department has consulted extensively on the clinical part of CUBRIC 2. Met with Richard Golledge of architects IBI Nightingale last Friday and things are moving quickly. Stephen Duddridge, Director of Cardiff University Estates Development, sent me this fabulous animation of the build, had to share it:

Judith Hall