Print This Post
Professor Marc Aurel Busche
Name:
Professor Marc Aurel Busche
Job title:
Professor in Dementia and Neurodegeneration
Place of work / study:
University of Basel & UK Dementia Research Institute
Area of Research:
Neurodegenerative disorders and dementias
How is your work funded:
UK Dementia Research Institute, UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, LifeArc, CureAlz, Alzheimer’s Association, Synapsis
Tell us a little about yourself:
I am a clinical academic who works at the interface of patient care and neuroscience. I currently serve as Chief Physician and clinical professor in Basel, where I lead a Memory Clinic and Old Age Psychiatry service and help build modern pathways for the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Alongside my clinical role in Switzerland, I maintain an active research programme at the UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London. My work focuses on why Alzheimer’s disease and related tauopathies disrupt brain function long before severe atrophy is visible, and how those early circuit changes translate into symptoms that patients and families recognise. In the laboratory, my team studies how disease-associated proteins such as amyloid beta and tau alter neuronal communication, from synapses and single neurons to large scale networks.
We use a combination of in vivo physiology, imaging, human cell models and translational neuropathology to identify the most vulnerable cell types and mechanisms, with the goal of developing more mechanism-based therapies and biomarkers. What motivates me is the gap I see every week in the clinic: people are often diagnosed too late, prognostic tools are still limited, and treatment options have historically been largely symptomatic. I am committed to changing that by bringing molecular diagnostics, earlier detection and new disease-modifying approaches into real world care. My broader aim is to strengthen brain health services so that advances in science translate
Tell us a fun fact about yourself:
Not sure
Why did you choose to work in dementia?
I chose dementia because it sits at the crossroads of medicine, neuroscience, and what matters most to people. As a clinician, I met patients whose lives were changing in ways that were frightening and often poorly explained, and I saw how heavily dementia falls on families and carers. For a long time, we had little to offer beyond support and symptomatic treatment, which was deeply unsatisfying. At the same time, the biology fascinated me. Dementia is not only about cell loss, it is about circuits failing, years before severe atrophy. That insight pulled me towards research, because it suggested that understanding early dysfunction could lead to earlier diagnosis, better prediction, and treatments that target mechanisms rather than symptoms. I stayed in the field because we are finally entering an era where molecular diagnostics and disease-modifying therapies are becoming real, and I want to help translate those advances into safe, practical care that genuinely improves patients’ lives.
What single piece of advise would you give to an early career researcher?
Pick a question that you genuinely care about, then design the simplest, most decisive experiment you can to test it, and do that early. Protect time for deep work, seek mentors who tell you the truth rather than what is comfortable, and build collaborations with people who are better than you at the methods you need. Keep your standards high, but do not wait for the “perfect” project or dataset before you put work into the world.
What book are you reading right now? Would you recommend it?
I am currently reading Our Brains, Our Selves by Masud Husain. It is a fascinating, very readable collection of patient stories that makes you think about how the brain shapes personality, memory, and identity. I would definitely recommend it.
Favourite film of all time?
Not sure
Favourite ways to unplug and unwind?
Time with my daughter, anything that involves laughing and no screens
What’s the best decision you ever made?
Not sure
What’s your favourite vacation spot?
Too many to choose from
Do you collect anything?
No
