Professor James Rowe

My training in Medical Sciences and Experimental Psychology (1st class hons.) began at Downing College at the University of Cambridge (1988-1991), followed by Magdalen College at the University of Oxford (1991-1994) and continued through my PhD at the Functional Imaging Laboratory of the Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology (1998-2001), supervised by Richard Frackowiak, Professor of Cognitive Neurology in London, and Richard E. Passingham, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in Oxford. My PhD focused on the neural mechanisms of response selection and attention to action, in health and Parkinson’s disease. This build on state-of-the-art human neuroimaging techniques, including PET, fMRI, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), with connectivity analysis. 

After my PhD I undertook full time clinical specialist training in neurology, but continued research, with UK and international collaborations. My Wellcome Trust Intermediate Research Fellowship (2005-2009) enabled me to develop research methodologies (including magnetoencephalography and biophysical models of brain function), alongside clinical experience with Frontotemporal dementia, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, and related disorders. Wellcome Trust Fellowships and Investigator award have continued to support my research, amplified by NIHR, MRC and philanthropic awards. In 2015, I became Professor of Cognitive Neurology at the Cambridge University and an affiliated Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Copenhagen.  

My scientific and clinical work has been published in ~600 peer-reviewed articles, with inspirational collaborators, colleagues and students. I remain an active consultant neurologist, leading regional specialist clinics for patients with dementia, including frontotemporal dementias, and I am a member of the Cambridge Memory Clinic. This clinical practice is important, to keep the research focussed on the priorities for patients and families - better diagnosis and treatment.