Research

1. Tell us about job?

I’m a second year PhD student, who was awarded a Brain Research UK PhD studentship in 2019 to pursue research into the disabling headaches of Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension within the Metabolic Neurology group at the University of Birmingham.

I work in one of the UK's leading headache research labs under the supervision of Professor Alex Sinclair and Professor Gareth Lavery, collaborating with both clinical and academic researchers to deliver translational research which can best benefit patients.

Overall, my PhD aims to understand the mechanisms underlying headache in IIH and identify potential new treatments using sophisticated mice models. Although the primary objectives include establishing effective and translational models of IIH, I am also involved in multiple IIH projects also involving clinical trials within the group.

2. What made you interested in IIH?

I have always favoured neuroscience throughout my education, choosing to investigate epilepsy in my undergraduate BSc and the genetics of human ageing during my research Masters. Throughout these years at university, I’ve enjoyed exploring neurobiology and exploring neurological disorders that have seemingly ‘invisible symptoms’. IIH in particular has interested me in my post graduate career as although it is growing in prevalence there is little awareness and discussion regarding IIH in medical research. IIH is hugely disabling condition and has such a severe impact on its sufferers, yet there is much left to uncover about its causes and how to effectively treatment. I was drawn to Prof’s Sinclair’s group as it seemed they were putting pieces of a puzzle together to reveal more about the biological origins of IIH.

3. Tell us about your research?

During my first year of my project, I explored the association between metabolism and headache triggers which is evident from fasting, exercise and hypoxia driven headaches. I have developed a brain slice platform which is capable of modelling headache mechanisms and providing a readout of metabolism. This work has demonstrated that inducing headache pathways in this system is capable of altering metabolism, which I next aim to target therapeutically. To develop this platform, I also was awarded the Midlands Neuroscience Research Teaching fund.

My project also involves using state of the art innovative microchips which have been developed in collaboration with the University of California LA, to non-invasively measure intracranial pressure and headache mechanisms. By investigating the association between pressure and headache mechanisms we hope to assay the effectiveness of new and existing therapeutics.

I've presented my research at numerous conferences during my PhD so far including the European Headache Federation and the Midlands Ophthalmology Society. I have also co-authored five journal articles on the topic of headache disorders, one of which I am the first author of. I have really enjoyed the communicative part of my research so far!

4. How will your research help people with IIH?

My PhD project in particular aims to elucidate mechanisms which cause headache in conditions of raised intracranial pressure in order to find drugs to alter this relationship. These studies will provide the first insight into headache mechanisms in the setting of raised brain pressure. This is particularly advantageous for people with IIH as I will be analysing how existing drugs can modify these mechanisms, providing evidence for translation into future IIH headache therapies. The more we learn about the underlying pathways which lead to IIH and its symptoms such as headache, the better equipped we are to treat it.