Dr Axel Montagne

PhD

Group Leader

Exploring the link between cerebrovascular and inflamm-ageing to neurodegeneration and dementia

Condition

Alzheimer's disease, Mild cognitive impairment, Vascular dementia

Topics

Ageing, Biomarkers & diagnostics, Genetics, Immune system, Molecular mechanisms, Treatments & Interventions, Vascular system

Techniques

Advanced microscopy & imaging, Bioinformatics, Fluid biomarkers, Human brain imaging, Mass spec-based proteomics, Mouse behaviour, Mouse in vivo imaging, Next generation sequencing, Single cell / nucleus transcriptomics, Software development, Spatial transcriptomics, Viral-mediated expression

Biography

Dr Axel Montagne joined the UK Dementia Research Institute at Edinburgh in 2020. 


He completed his PhD degree at the University of Caen Normandy (France), followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. Axel rapidly became Assistant and then Associate Professor at USC in 2016 and 2020, respectively. 

His career has focused on how cerebrovascular dysfunctions contribute to neurodegeneration and dementia in both animal models and humans. 


In his UK DRI program, he combines molecular approaches with rodent non-invasive imaging, particularly MRI and microscopy techniques, to study the causes and effects of blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction, with a particular focus on the Endothelium-Pericyte-Immune tripartite interactions, in the context of neurodegenerative disease. 


Dr Montagne was awarded the 2021 SCOR Young European Researcher Prize for his research into Alzheimer’s disease and a MRC Career Development Award in 2022. Dr Montagne was featured in the prestigious Highly Cited Researcher list from Clarivate in 2022 and 2023.

News

Key publications

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Published

<em>Atp13a5</em> Marker Reveals Pericyte Specification in The Mouse Central Nervous System

Authors
Xinying Guo, Shangzhou Xia, Tenghuan Ge, Yangtao Lin, Shirley Hu, Haijian Wu, Xiaochun Xie, Bangyan Zhang, Sonia Zhang, Jianxiong Zeng, Jian-Fu Chen, Axel Montagne, Fan Gao, Qingyi Ma, Zhen Zhao
<em>Atp13a5</em> Marker Reveals Pericyte Specification in The Mouse Central Nervous System
Neuron
Published

Microglia protect against age-associated brain pathologies

Authors
David A D Munro, Nadine Bestard-Cuche, Conor McQuaid, Audrey Chagnot, Sepideh Kiani Shabestari, Jean Paul Chadarevian, Upasana Maheshwari, Stefan Szymkowiak, Kim Morris, Mehreen Mohammad, Andrea Corsinotti, Barry Bradford, Neil Mabbott, Ross J Lennen, Maurits A Jansen, Clare Pridans, Barry W McColl, Annika Keller, Mathew Blurton-Jones, Axel Montagne, Anna Williams, Josef Priller
Microglia protect against age-associated brain pathologies
Nat Commun
Published

A single nuclear transcriptomic characterisation of mechanisms responsible for impaired angiogenesis and blood-brain barrier function in Alzheimer's disease.

Authors
Stergios Tsartsalis, Hannah Sleven, Nurun Fancy, Frank Wessely, Amy M Smith, Nanet Willumsen, To Ka Dorcas Cheung, Michal J Rokicki, Vicky Chau, Eseoghene Ifie, Combiz Khozoie, Olaf Ansorge, Xin Yang, Marion H Jenkyns, Karen Davey, Aisling McGarry, Robert C J Muirhead, Stephanie Debette, Johanna S Jackson, Axel Montagne, David R Owen, J Scott Miners, Seth Love, Caleb Webber, M Zameel Cader, Paul M Matthews
A single nuclear transcriptomic characterisation of mechanisms responsible for impaired angiogenesis and blood-brain barrier function in Alzheimer's disease.

Montagne Lab

Explore the work of the Montagne Lab focused on exploring the cerebrovascular and inflamm-ageing link to neurodegeneration and dementia.

Montagne Lab
Congestions Montagne Lab