Richard Wade-Martins

Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre

Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics

 University of Oxford

Richard graduated from the University of Cambridge in Natural Sciences (Genetics) in 1995 and then moved to the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford for a DPhil followed by a Wellcome Trust Fellowship. In 2000 Richard moved to Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School as a Wellcome Trust Travelling Research Fellow. He returned to Oxford and in 2004 was awarded a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellowship and started his own group. In 2007 Richard moved to the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, as a University Lecturer, was appointed an Associate Professor in 2014 and full Professor in 2015.

Richard’s research is focused on better understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. His work combines the development of improved induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neuronal culture models with studies on human post-mortem brain tissue and the generation and analysis of novel transgenic and knockout mouse models. His work focuses on the study of the functional and genetic mechanisms underlying key neurodegeneration disease loci, such as alpha-synuclein (SNCA), microtubule associated protein tau (MAPT) and leucine rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2). Richard heads the Molecular Neurodegeneration Research Laboratory and has led the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre, a multi-disciplinary translational research initiative, since its launch in 2010, and leads the iPSC Dementia Stem Cell Initiative in the UK Dementia Platform.