ProfessorRobert Sanders

My passion is translational medicine, understanding mechanisms of disease to improve patient outcomes and experience. Neuropsychiatric disorders, such as delirium, dementia and schizophrenia, have massive financial, personal and societal impact and also limited therapeutic options. My focus is innovative investigation into the underlying pathogenic mechanisms to identify novel therapeutics. We apply novel disease models inspired from theoretical neuroscience, and supported by empirical data, as a critical principle of our approach. The intent is to significantly disrupt fields that have failed produce therapies despite years of research.

My laboratory is also interested in the mechanisms of consciousness and, in particular, sensory perception. The critical purpose of anaesthesia (and sleep), is to become disconnected from the external world, yet the mechanisms of sensory disconnection and experience remain unclear. We aim to illuminate these mechanisms, not only in the name of scientific discovery, but also to yield new approaches to providing anaesthesia,