An honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) is awarded to foreign nationals who have made a distinguished and innovative contribution to any area.

Co-leading the Cellular Phase of Alzheimer’s Disease Laboratory at the Crick, along with Lorena Arancibia Carcamo, Bart is interested in the disease mechanisms in the brain that occur many years before the onset of clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, aiming to understand the steps in the process and use this information to identify new treatments.

He is most well-known for his work on the presenilins, intramembrane cleaving proteases that are responsible for the processing of the amyloid precursor protein, APP, which produces amyloid beta, the protein that clumps together in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. These proteases are fundamentally important for neuronal cell fate, development and tissue homeostasis.

He has also led renowned studies into the function of proteins that are mutated in inherited forms of Alzheimer’s disease and into the generation of innovative human xenograft mouse models.

Bart’s lab at the Crick continues to work on amyloid beta, understanding how it impacts the immune and support cells of the brain, combining studies of individual brain cells and cell networks with genetic screening to better understand these mechanisms.

As well as founding the UK Dementia Research Institute in 2017, which brings together over 1000 dementia researchers across nine UK universities and institutes, Bart has received several awards, including the Brain prize which he shared with John Hardy, Michael Goedert and Christian Haass.

I am honoured by this recognition, which I see as a tribute to the many colleagues who helped establish the UK Dementia Research Institute and to our shared commitment to advancing dementia research for the benefit of patients and society.

Bart de Strooper