Top Researchers
Top Neuroscience Researchers at University of Sheffield for 2026
The University of Sheffield’s recent work in neuroscience spans clinical care, cognition, and the tools researchers use to understand both. Across the last year, the institution’s output reflects a broad mix of approaches, from studies on neurodivergence and stroke recovery to hearing, dementia detection, and brain-computer interfaces.
Below, you’ll find a snapshot of researchers whose recent publications show how neuroscience at Sheffield connects patient-centered questions with method development and translational research.
Featured Researchers
Lauren Powell
Lauren Powell’s recent publications at the University of Sheffield center neurodivergent experiences, ADHD, and co-production in research and practice, with strong ties to psychiatry and mental health.
Activity over the last year: 8 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
Li Su
Li Su’s recent work links neurology and physiology through a pilot trial of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation for patients with depressive symptoms.
Activity over the last year: 11 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
Hannes P. Saal
Hannes P. Saal has been publishing on tactile perception and body mechanics, with studies on skin stretch, fingerprint deformation, and how tactile neurons encode loading history.
Activity over the last year: 6 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Local postural changes elicit extensive and diverse skin stretch around joints, on the trunk and the face (Feb 2025)
- Sub-surface deformation of individual fingerprint ridges during tactile interactions (Nov 2025)
- Fingertip viscoelasticity enables human tactile neurons to encode loading history alongside current force (Jun 2025)
Walter Marcotti
Walter Marcotti’s recent papers focus on sensory systems and hearing, including cochlear hair-cell function, spontaneous activity in the pre-hearing cochlea, and gene-based rescue of hearing-related function.
Activity over the last year: 5 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- MYO7A is required for the functional integrity of the mechanoelectrical transduction complex in hair cells of the adult cochlea (Jan 2025)
- In vivo spontaneous Ca2+ activity in the pre-hearing mammalian cochlea (Jan 2025)
- Adeno‐associated virus‐based rescue of Myo7a expression restores hair‐cell function and improves hearing thresholds in a USH1B mouse strain (Sep 2025)
Christopher McDermott
Christopher McDermott’s recent output in neurology and genetics centers on ALS, from trial evidence on low-dose IL-2 and riluzole to efforts to harmonize ALSFRS-R measurement.
Activity over the last year: 9 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Efficacy and safety of low-dose IL-2 as an add-on therapy to riluzole (MIROCALS): a phase 2b, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial (May 2025)
- Real-world prognostic role of riluzole use in ALS: a multi-center study from PRECISION-ALS (May 2025)
- Variability across versions of the self-administered ALSFRS-R: a review and call for harmonization (Jun 2025)
Mahnaz Arvaneh
Mahnaz Arvaneh is working at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience, signal processing, and cellular neuroscience, with recent studies on brain-computer interfaces, deep brain modulation, and hearing-loss prediction.
Activity over the last year: 5 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- A clinical trial evaluating feasibility and acceptability of a brain-computer interface for telerehabilitation in patients with stroke (Apr 2025)
- Beyond the surface: a review of transcranial temporal interference stimulation for deep brain modulation (Sep 2025)
- A machine-learning-based approach to predict early hallmarks of progressive hearing loss (Jun 2025)
Arshad Majid
Arshad Majid’s recent publications combine physiology, epidemiology, and respiratory medicine with work on vagus nerve stimulation, stroke rehabilitation, and resting-state fMRI as a biomarker.
Activity over the last year: 7 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Long-Term Outcomes of Vagus Nerve Stimulation Paired With Upper Extremity Rehabilitation After Stroke (May 2025)
- Role of Advanced Glycation End Products and Mitohormesis in Cancer Development and Progression (Sep 2025)
- Systematic review: Resting state functional MRI as a biomarker for non-invasive brain stimulation in upper limb recovery post-stroke (Jun 2025)
Heidi Christensen
Heidi Christensen’s recent research brings artificial intelligence and signal processing to speech-based dementia detection and other approaches for spotting early cognitive decline.
Activity over the last year: 5 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- A Two-Step Attention-Based Feature Combination Cross-Attention System for Speech-Based Dementia Detection (Jan 2025)
- Automatic Detection of Early Cognitive Decline Using Multimodal Feature Fusion and Transfer Learning on Real-World Conversational Speech (Dec 2025)
- Analysis of Facial Cues for Cognitive Decline Detection Using In-the-Wild Data (Jun 2025)
What University of Sheffield's Neuroscience Community Is Working On
The strongest theme across these researchers is cognitive neuroscience, which appears alongside clinically oriented work on neurology and physiology. That mix suggests an active community moving between brain function, patient recovery, and measurement methods, while cellular and molecular neuroscience and signal processing add depth on the mechanistic and technical sides. Taken together, the recent work points to a field that is not only studying the brain, but also building practical ways to detect disease, support rehabilitation, and improve interpretation of complex neurological data.- Cognitive Neuroscience - seen across 4 of the featured researchers
- Neurology - seen across 3 of the featured researchers
- Physiology - seen across 3 of the featured researchers
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
- Signal Processing - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
These recent publications show a community working across the full neuroscience spectrum, from mechanisms and measurement to rehabilitation and clinical decision-making. If you’re exploring similar topics, it can be useful to track emerging themes, compare author output, and streamline your own submission workflow with tools like Resub.
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