Mootaz Salman profile

Dr Mootaz Salman

(he/him) (BPharm, MSc, PhD)

Group Leader

Deciphering the role of the blood-brain barrier in neurodegeneration

Condition

Parkinson's disease, Vascular dementia

Topics

Ageing, Cell biology of neurons & glia, Genetics, Molecular mechanisms, Vascular system, Treatments & Interventions

Techniques

Advanced microscopy & imaging, CRISPR, Drug screening, Stem cells / iPSCs

Biography

Dr Mootaz Salman is a Group Leader in Cellular Neuroscience and MRC Career Development Fellow at the University of Oxford. He also serves as Principal Investigator at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Centre for Research Excellence, the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) BHF Centre for Vascular Dementia Research, and the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery.

Following a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, Dr Salman joined the University of Oxford in 2020. He was awarded a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, which enabled him to initiate his independent research as a Departmental Research Lecturer. In 2023, he established the Salman Group at the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (DPAG), supported by an MRC Career Development Fellowship and additional funding from the BBSRC Pioneer Award, European Research Council (ERC), CONNECT-Horizon2020, the Chief Scientist Office, and the Royal Society.

His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of blood-brain barrier (BBB) function and dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases and brain injuries. His group uses patient-derived stem cells to develop dynamic 3D multicellular in vitro models and brain organoids that faithfully replicate the structure and behaviour of the human BBB under mechanobiological stress, neuroinflammation, and other disease-relevant conditions.

Dr Salman’s contributions have been recognised with several prestigious awards, including the International Society of Neurochemistry (ISN) and Asia-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry (APSN) Young Neuroscientist Lectureship Award (2022), the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) President’s Medal for the Cell Biology Section (2024), the Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) David Hague Early Career Investigator of the Year (2024), and the inaugural ALBA-Roche Research Prize for Excellence in Neuroscience (2024).

News

Key publications

Science advances
Published
Galectin-3 induces neurodevelopmental apical-basal polarity and regulates gyrification
Authors
Luana Campos Soares, Ning Huang, Hana Bernhardova, Viviana Macarelli, Marva Chan, Lara Nikel, Sara Bandiera, Dongnan Yan, Dhanu Gupta, Elisa M Cruz, Talia Vasaturo-Kolodner, James M Hillis, Matthew Wood, Mootaz Salman, Zoltán Molnár, Eric O'Neill, Francis G Szele
Galectin-3 induces neurodevelopmental apical-basal polarity and regulates gyrification

Salman Lab

Explore the work of the Salman Lab focused on understanding the role of the blood-brain barrier in neurodegeneration.

Salman Lab
traumatic brain injury in mice