Targeting Microglial Senescence for New Frontotemporal Dementia Therapies 

Nearly one million people in the UK are living with dementia today, and this number is expected to rise sharply in the coming years. Among them, Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) stands out as a particularly devastating form of the disease, changing a person’s behaviour, personality, language, and movement. Despite its impact, we still do not fully understand what drives FTD or how it progresses. 

Emerging evidence points to a crucial player: microglia, the immune cells residing in the brain. When these cells become overactivated, they can enter a state of premature ageing, known as senescence, which prevents them from carrying out their vital roles. Our recent findings suggest that this process may be central to how FTD develops, offering a promising new direction for research. 

A dedicated postdoctoral researcher will help us accelerate this work. They will use advanced data science approaches (including OMICs and artificial intelligence), neuropathology, and sophisticated human cell culture systems to uncover how microglial senescence contributes to FTD. This project will be based in the DGN Lab at the University of Southampton, a leading centre for microglial biology supported by experts across neuropathology, bioinformatics and clinical research. 

By understanding how microglia drive FTD, we hope to reveal new treatment targets — a vital step toward improving outcomes for everyone living with this difficult disease. 

Supervisor: Professor Diego Gomez-Nicola, Professor of Neuroimmunology. 

Secondary Supervisors: Dr Owen Rackham, Dr Andres Vallejo-Pulido, Dr Clara Alice Musi and Dr Andrew O’Connor. 

“

We are all very aware of how important it is to detect cancer at an early stage, and there are so many ways of testing and screening. We desperately need to be able to detect dementia earlier for the exact same reasons – treatment is so very much more effective if you catch the disease early.”

Professor Roxana Carare
Professor of Neuroscience