Angela Hodges

Dr. Angela Hodges is a Senior Lecturer at the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre within the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London. She leads the Alzheimer's disease RNA biomarker group, which is part of a wider Alzheimer's disease blood biomarker programme headed by Professor Simon Lovestone.

Dr. Hodges' primary research focuses on establishing robust panels of blood molecules that enable early Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and accurate assessment of disease progression. Her work aims to develop a simple blood test that would allow for personalized treatment strategies and early intervention when treatments become available. She has also expanded her research to Huntington's disease, investigating how Dictyostelium discoideum tolerates long polyglutamine-containing proteins that would be disease-causing in humans.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on molecular mechanisms across multiple neurodegenerative conditions. Her work consistently addresses biomarker discovery through epigenetic modifications, genetic risk factors, and imaging correlates of disease pathology across Alzheimer's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and Huntington's disease.

Dr. Hodges has secured significant research funding as principal investigator on multiple projects:

• Alzheimer's Research UK London Network Centre Grant (2022-2023)
• PHAGO - Targeting TREM2 and CD33 of phagocytes for Alzheimer's treatment (2016-2022)
• Generation of genetic models of dementia (2016-2017)
• Induced pluripotent stem cell models from patients with TREM2 variants (2015-2018)
• APP biology research related to Alzheimer's neuropathology (2015-2018)

Her Alzheimer's disease RNA biomarker group operates within the broader framework of the Institute of Psychiatry's dementia research initiatives, with the goal of establishing a high-performance biomarker panel within five years. This research has potential applications beyond Alzheimer's to other neurodegenerative diseases including motor neurone disease and Parkinson's disease.