About
Ian Galea is a Professor of Clinical and Experimental Neurology, within Medicine at the University of Southampton. He leads the Southampton Clinical and Experimental Neurology Team (SCENT), a multidisciplinary group of investigators studying the blood-brain interface across inflammatory and haemorrhagic central nervous system conditions. The team has laboratory expertise in cell culture, immunochemistry, molecular techniques and preclinical models, and clinical translational expertise in clinical assessment, diagnostic assays and neuroimaging. Bench-to-bedside science is translated to patient benefit.
His research concerns how the brain interacts with blood, either at the neurovascular interface (with implications for conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease) or within the brain after haemorrhage (as in subarachnoid haemorrhage). As a clinician scientist he works across clinical and laboratory areas. In his early scientific career, he studied cerebral perivascular macrophages at the blood-brain barrier and described a novel pathway of CD8 T cell entry into the brain. This formed the basis for his post-doctoral work, during which he studied the haemoglobin-scavenging system in the brain after subarachnoid haemorrhage and CD8 T cell-mediated brain disease. More recently he has focussed on the effects of systemic inflammation on blood-brain barrier function and the effects of extracellular haemoglobin on the brain across a variety of neurological conditions.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Brain haemorrhage: pathophysiology
- Blood-brain barrier and immune-brain signalling
- Neuroimmunology
- Multiple sclerosis
- Subarachnoid haemorrhage
Current research
Southampton Clinical and Experimental Neurology Team (SCENT)
SCENT is interested in the molecular basis, cell biology and clinical implications of the interaction between blood and brain in two main areas:
- Interaction between blood and brain at the neurovascular interface is highly regulated in health, to protect the delicate brain. However this is dysregulated in neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease, contributing to progression. For instance systemic inflammation may trigger more marked changes in blood-brain barrier function in these conditions, leading to alterations deeper within brain tissue.
- After brain haemorrhage, neurovascular reactivity is altered and extracellular haemoglobin is released, leading to pathology in brain areas distant from the bleed. This is most especially seen after subarachnoid haemorrhage since blood-clot derived factors can diffuse easily across the cerebrospinal fluid compartment, and major blood vessels travel through the same space. Related research topics of interest to our group are superficial siderosis and the role of haemolysis in neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease.
The main aim is to improve the quality of life of people with central nervous system conditions by developing novel monitoring tools, outcome prediction algorithms and new treatments. Work is performed closely with patients in clinical studies to confirm the identity of key pathways that have treatment potential.
"During neurological disease, brain tissue including vessels and blood within are destroyed, leading to inflammation, release of haemoglobin and blood-brain barrier compromise. This gets worse when there is infection and inflammation outside the brain. We study these pathological processes across a range of neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and brain haemorrhage."
The blood brain-barrier represents the interface between the brain and the circulation. In the normal healthy brain, systemic inflammation signals across the blood-brain barrier leading to changes in the brain itself. This effect is more marked in the presence of inflammatory and neurodegenerative brain diseases, the commonest of which are multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease respectively. The team studies the interplay between brain, blood and inflammation in health and disease, in order to be able to predict, prevent and treat brain inflammation.
During brain haemorrhage there is a catastrophic breach in the blood-brain barrier. Blood is released into the brain, forming a clot. Unlike the rest of the body, the brain has a limited ability to deal with extravasated blood. As the blood clot degenerates, it leads to a local buildup of toxic substances. The team studies the effect of blood on brain cells and how this can be treated.
Further information can be found on the Southampton Clinical and Experimental Neurology Team (SCENT) and HATCH consortium webpages.
Research projects
Active projects
Completed projects
Publications
Teaching
Bachelor of Medicine programmes
- Lecturer on BM4 & BM5 (Neurology, Immunology)
- Examiner: Objective Structured Clinical Examination
- Bachelor in Medical Science project supervisor (1-3 / year)
- Master in Medical Science project supervisor (1-2 / year)
- Question setting
- Standard setting
- Assignment marker
- Personal academic tutor
- Student Selection Interviewer
Postgraduate taught programmes
Research project supervision on:
- MRes Clinical and Health Research
- MSc Audiology
- MSc (Neurosciences)
Postgraduate research
Main PhD supervision
- Matt Morton (MRC-funded, completed)
- Charlotte Stuart (multiple source-funded, completed)
- Aravinthan Varatharaj (MRC-funded, completed)
- Ben Gaastra (Guarantors of Brain & Institute for Life Sciences-funded, completed)
Co-Supervisor
- Hannah Warming (Gerkut Trust & Institute for Life Sciences-funded, completed)
- Jinxuan Bai (School of Mathematical Sciences, ongoing)
Internal examiner
Clinical academic training
- Neurology Integrated Clinical Academic Training Lead
- Academic Foundation Programme (Neuroscience) supervision
- Academic Clinical Fellow (Neuroscience) supervision
- Clinical Lecturer (Neuroscience) supervision
Biography
Ian Galea is a Consultant Neurologist and Professor in Clinical & Experimental Neurology in Southampton. He qualified as a medical doctor from the University of Malta and completed general professional training in the UK. He then trained in basic neuroimmunology completing a PhD with Professor Hugh Perry, alongside neurology specialist training in the Wessex region. During his postdoctoral years he worked on the blood-brain barrier, making seminal observations in subarachnoid haemorrhage, paraneoplastic neurological disease and multiple sclerosis. He founded an international consortium of investigators in subarachnoid haemorrhage which is led from Southampton, and more recently a national consortium studying the neurology of covid. He has published papers in top journals such as Brain, Neurology, Annals of Neurology, J Exp Med, BMJ, Nature Reviews and the Lancet family. Several research papers have been selected for editorial comment and won prizes. Ian is on the steering committee of several national studies, the editorial board of Brain Behaviour Immunity and is NIHR Regional Multiple Sclerosis Specialty Lead. In Southampton, he actively champions imaging research and clinical academic training.