I came to Southampton in 2014 as a Specialist Registrar in Neurology. I had never held a dedicated research post before, but had applied unsuccessfully for a fair few, and did what research I could alongside clinical work. In 2015 I obtained an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship and seed funding from the University, which allowed me to do preliminary work in support of a PhD application. In 2018 I was awarded an MRC Clinical Research Fellowship (second time round) which funded a three-year PhD. In 2021 I took up my current post as NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Neurology.
I am interested in brain inflammation. The brain can become inflamed in conditions such as multiple sclerosis, but also during infections or after a bump on the head. During inflammation the blood vessels of the brain (the blood-brain barrier) become leaky, and I can measure this using advanced MRI scans. Identifying brain inflammation can open up new opportunities for treatment.
Having protected time to do research is a valuable gift. Acquiring and analysing data, developing protocols, recruiting patients, writing publications and grant applications – these are all very difficult to do without protected time.
My work has shown that measuring blood-brain barrier health can improve the diagnosis and treatment of multiple sclerosis. I have also shown how infections including covid can affect the brain, which may involve inflammation and blood vessel damage. I am now working on a new approach for treating brain injuries by detecting inflammation.
You can read more about Ara's research here.