This week, Professor Zane Jaunmuktane (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) talks about her work using AI to unlock the secrets of how dementia develops, the vital importance of the human element in research... and how a six-month UCL contract turned into a research career!
What is your role and what does it involve?
I’m an academic neuropathologist. In practice that means diagnosing brain diseases under the microscope, teaching students and doctors, and carrying out research to understand why conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s develop. It’s detective work at a cellular level, but with a lot of teamwork, technology, and patience involved.
How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role?
I first joined UCL in 2011 on what was meant to be a six-month contract as a locum registrar. That turned into a full registrar post, then opportunities to get involved in research opened up, and evolved into my current role as an academic consultant.
What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?
What gives me the most pride is the diagnostic or research work where spotting something unusual under the microscope has led to new discoveries - by myself and by others building on it. Careful observation still matters, even in the age of AI.
Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of your to-do list
Right now I’m leading large collaborative efforts to digitise and analyse thousands of post-mortem brain samples with AI. The aim is to reveal how misfolded proteins spread and drive dementia, and how genes and other factors change this. It’s ambitious - but the only way to move from case-by-case understanding to something that can change future treatments.
What is your favourite album, film and novel?
Album : A Latvian indie band called Sudden Lights - most people won’t know them, but I’m slightly obsessed. It also gives away my roots, which I’m very proud of.
Film : Pretty much anything with Audrey Tautou - I grew up loving her films.
Novel : The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov- a book that manages to be funny, surreal, and profound all’at once.
What is your favourite joke (pre-watershed)?
I know quite a few blonde jokes which I personally find funny - though I’m not entirely sure everyone else does, so I share them only rarely!
Who would be your dream dinner guests?
I was once asked this same question and I said "Dorothy Russell" - one of the first female neuropathologists, who worked in London and Oxford from the 1920s onwards. I still would love to have a dinner conversation with her about how far the field has come, but also how much it hasn’t changed.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Many things won’t work out as you planned - but that’s ok.
What would it surprise people to know about you?
Surprises are better left unspoken - they only truly surprise if you discover them yourself.
What is your favourite place?
If I told you, it wouldn’t feel quite the same - the best places and things lose a little magic when they’re talked about too much.
- University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT (0) 20 7679 2000
