St Hilda's College
College news

£50m National Brain Research Initiative

26 June 2025

A new £50 million national research centre will develop advanced brain stimulation therapies to treat neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, dementia, stroke, and epilepsy — and St Hilda’s College Fellow Professor Charlotte Stagg will be contributing to this transformative work.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) in Restorative Neural Dynamics, launched in June 2025, is led by the University of Oxford in collaboration with several UK institutions. It will focus on the development of device-based therapies that interact with the brain’s natural patterns of activity — known as neural dynamics — to improve patient outcomes.

Among the many Oxford researchers involved in this ambitious initiative is Professor Charlotte Stagg, Fellow of St Hilda’s College and Professor of Human Neurophysiology in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences. Professor Stagg is based at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging and contributes her expertise in brain plasticity and recovery following injury.

The Centre will explore technologies ranging from implanted neurostimulators to non-invasive and wearable devices. Its goal is to move from laboratory research to real-world application, ultimately supporting integration into everyday NHS care.

St Hilda’s College warmly congratulates Professor Stagg and the wider team on this new initiative, which holds the potential to change lives and advance understanding of some of the most complex neurological disorders.