In 2020-21, we funded a post for a new senior research neurosurgery lecturer for three years. Mr Aminul Ahmed, a consultant neurosurgeon, took up the role in September 2021. Thanks to our funding, he has been developing his research programme in advanced therapies for neurological disease, with the aim of translating this research into advanced care for neurosurgical patients at King’s.
He is liaising with experts from across the globe to design the world’s first clinical trial of a gene therapy for spinal cord injury. His recent analysis of patients who have undergone surgery for lower back pain will soon become the largest-ever study of treatment outcomes for this group of patients.
Work is also underway to design a number of other projects, including one that aims to use human live neural tissue to study the repair potential of neural stem cells and another that plans to explore the development of minimally invasive robot-assisted neuroengineering therapies for neurological disorders.
The ultimate aim of this groundbreaking work is to translate research into world-leading care for neurosurgical patients at King’s.