Rate My Professor James Rowe

Professor James B. Rowe is the Professor of Cognitive Neurology in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge. His academic training began with a first-class honours degree in Medical Sciences and Experimental Psychology at Downing College, Cambridge (1988-1991), followed by clinical training at Magdalen College, Oxford (1991-1994), and a PhD from the Functional Imaging Laboratory of the Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology (1998-2001), supervised by Professors Richard Frackowiak and Richard Passingham. His doctoral research examined the neural mechanisms of response selection and attention to action in health and Parkinson’s disease using positron emission tomography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and transcranial magnetic stimulation. After completing specialist neurology training in London and Copenhagen, he held a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Research Fellowship (2005-2009) and Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship in Clinical Science (2009). Appointed Professor of Cognitive Neurology at Cambridge in 2015, he also serves as Affiliated Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Copenhagen, Programme Leader at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Director of the Cambridge Centre for Frontotemporal Dementia and Related Disorders, lead of the Dementia theme in the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Associate Director of Dementias Platform UK for experimental medicine, and Chief Scientific Adviser to Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Rowe’s research integrates functional neuroimaging techniques including magnetoencephalography, PET, fMRI, and TMS to investigate cognitive deficits in frontotemporal dementias, Alzheimer’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, Parkinson’s disease, and related frontostriatal disorders. His work focuses on brain network connectivity, executive functions, action control, volition, social cognition, apathy, impulsivity, neurotransmitter deficits, and tau pathology. He has authored over 600 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Brain, Neurology, and Nature Communications, with notable papers including 'Apathy and impulsivity in frontotemporal lobar degeneration syndromes' (Lansdall et al., Brain, 2017), '18F-AV-1451 positron emission tomography in Alzheimer’s disease and progressive supranuclear palsy' (Passamonti et al., Brain, 2017), and 'Neurotransmitter deficits from frontotemporal lobar degeneration' (Murley & Rowe, Brain, 2018), amassing over 51,000 citations. As an active consultant neurologist, he leads regional specialist clinics for dementia patients, including frontotemporal dementias, at the Cambridge Memory Clinic. His contributions are supported by Wellcome Trust Investigator Awards, NIHR, MRC, and philanthropic funding.