Rate My Professor Adrian Isaacs

Professor Adrian Isaacs is Professor of Neurodegenerative Disease in the Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London. He serves as Group Leader at the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL. Isaacs earned his undergraduate degree in molecular biology and genetics from the University of Manchester, including a year at the Mayo Clinic in Florida with John Hardy and Mike Hutton, where he contributed to the discovery of MAPT gene mutations causing frontotemporal dementia. He completed his PhD at Oxford University and postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School before establishing his independent laboratory at UCL.

The Isaacs Lab investigates molecular mechanisms driving frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, focusing on C9orf72 expansions using Drosophila, iPSC-derived neurons, and mouse models to identify modifiers and therapeutics like gene therapies and small molecules. Notable publications include 'Association of missense and 5′-splice-site mutations in tau with the inherited dementia FTDP-17' (1998), 'C9orf72 repeat expansions cause neurodegeneration in Drosophila through arginine-rich proteins' (2014, Science), and 'Neuronal polyunsaturated fatty acids are protective in ALS/FTD' (2025, Nature Neuroscience). His research has garnered funding from UK DRI Translation Awards and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Isaacs tutors and lectures on the MSc in Clinical Neuroscience at the UCL Institute of Neurology, advancing knowledge of neurodegenerative disease pathways and treatments.