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The University of Southampton
Medicine

Q&A with Professor Roxana Carare

Published: 14 March 2018
Q&A with rox Carare
Q&A with Alzheimer's researcher Professor Roxana Carare

The month of March marks International Women’s Day, which provides a fitting opportunity to acknowledge the extraordinary contribution that our female colleagues make to the Faculty of Medicine.

Here we ask Professor Roxana Carare about her research career into the causes of dementia and her work in finding new therapeutic targets to help the many people affected by this disease.

Name: Roxana Carare
Position: Professor of Clinical Neuroanatomy. Chair of Equality, Diversity, Inclusivity, Intersectionality Committee, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton.


What is your current research focus?

The failure of elimination of waste products from the brain is a key aspect in Alzheimer’s disease. My group has discovered the exact pathways by which waste is eliminated from the brain and why this fails with increasing age, with a genetic background named Apolipoprotein E4, with high cholesterol and with a diet rich in fat during pregnancy and lactation. As a result of the failure of elimination of waste, there is deposition of plaques in the brain and in the walls of blood vessels.


Why did you decide to focus your career on Alzheimer’s research?

There are over 850,000 people with dementia in the UK and 50 million worldwide. With the population living longer, this number is set to rise, posing a huge burden on families, carers, social and health care systems. Identifying the exact causes will lead to efficient therapies to be designed that promote the elimination of waste from the ageing brain. I also have personal reasons, as both my grandmother and my father have had/have Alzheimer’s disease, with a major impact on our lives.


What have been your biggest ‘eureka’ moments in this field?

Knowing that the brain has no traditional lymphatic vessels through which waste is eliminated and discovering that tiny channels in the walls of blood vessels of the brain serve as the lymphatic drainage pathways, becoming compromised with advancing age and with risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, leading to deposition of plaques that destroy nerve cells and lead to dementia.

 

 

Prof Rox Carare
Professor Roxana Carare

How would you describe the rate of progress in Alzheimer’s that you’ve witnessed?

The disease rates are extremely high, as people live longer. However, much progress is made in discovering the mechanisms underlying the disease.


How has the role of women in scientific research changed during the course of your career?

I started 24 years ago as a trainee surgeon, when the culture was focused on career advancement for men and a job/mid career posts for women. This has changed dramatically but there is still much work to be done. The Alzheimer’s Association International insists on gender balance for most symposia submissions and this is admirable, as it leads to an equilibrium in novel results presented, rather than just gender balance.


What would you say is your proudest career achievement?

Recognition as a leader of international research both at home through my promotion to full professor on a balanced portfolio and abroad, through numerous invitations to chair, examine, organize impactful symposia and events.


What excites you most about the future of Alzheimer’s research?

The interdisciplinary collaborative approaches with emphasis on collegiality and embracing new directions of research beyond the traditional biomedical routes. For example, results suggested by mathematical modelling are of huge impact in the field, as they lead to translational research.



The University of Southampton is highlighting the extraordinary contribution female colleagues make to the University, some of which will feature members of staff from the Faculty of Medicine, with a range of profiles, features and news stories on a dedicated web page.

 

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