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The University of Southampton
Southampton Clinical Academic Training Scheme

Case Study: Dr Ara Varatharaj, CL in Neurology

What is your current role and what led you to this?

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.

Tell us a bit about your research.

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.

What opportunities have you been provided with during your ACF and CL posts?

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.

How has your work benefitted patients and the public? Or how will they benefit in the future?

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 .

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