Axel Montagne

Dr Axel Montagne

PhD ((he/him))

Group Leader

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

Condition

Alzheimer's disease, Vascular dementia, Mild cognitive impairment

Topics

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

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

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 Neurosci
Published
Central nervous system-associated macrophages modulate the immune response following stroke in aged mice.
Authors
Damien Levard, Célia Seillier, Mathys Bellemain-Sagnard, Antoine Philippe Fournier, Eloïse Lemarchand, Chantal Dembech, Gaëtan Riou, Karina McDade, Colin Smith, Conor McQuaid, Axel Montagne, Lukas Amann, Marco Prinz, Denis Vivien, Marina Rubio
Central nervous system-associated macrophages modulate the immune response following stroke in aged mice.
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