Dr. Ahmad Khundakar is a Senior Lecturer at Teesside University and Associate Lecturer at the Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University. He has a broad base of expertise in biomedical science and neuroscience and has published and presented extensively in neuropharmacology and neuropathology.

Dr. Khundakar's research primarily investigates the pathological basis of dementia-causing illnesses, along with the societal aspects of dementia.

He is currently the Principal Investigator at the National Horizons Centre, where he leads a project developing innovative diagnostic methods, such as Raman spectroscopy and machine/deep learning technologies, for analysing biofluids from Lewy body dementia patients. 

Dr. Khundakar has also recently begun exploring the impact of delirium on dementia within care home settings. Additionally, he co-leads the Dementia Research Partnership Network with Dr. Kamar Ameen-Ali. This network aims to enhance collaboration between academics and clinicians, while involving people living with dementia and their families as research partners, ensuring that research in Teesside addresses the needs of those most affected by dementia.

Previously, Dr. Khundakar investigated the neurological mechanisms behind hallucinations in dementia with Lewy bodies and the role of the cingulate cortex in depression and executive dysfunction in Lewy body dementia. Dr. Khundakar also previously studied structural and molecular changes in post-mortem tissue from patients with late-life depression, identifying changes in brain regions related to emotional regulation that could indicate a higher risk of developing mild cognitive impairment and eventual dementia.

His PhD research centred on neurotrophic factors and their role in antidepressant function within the hippocampus. His findings demonstrated that chronic administration of antidepressants and electroconvulsive shock increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, highlighting its crucial role in both depression and its treatment.

Module leader:

• The Pathobiology of Neurological Diseases (postgraduate)
• Diagnostic and Experimental Pathology (undergraduate)

Lecturer:

• Cancer Diagnostics and Therapeutics (postgraduate)

Former module leader/lecturer:

• BSc (hons) Biomedical Science (Course Leader 2018-2024) 
• Clinical Pharmacology (undergraduate)
• Human Ageing and Disease (undergraduate)
• Pathology (undergraduate)
• Experimental Methods in Life Science (foundation)
• MRCPsych Old Age Psychiatry (Health Education North East)
• Biological Psychology (Open University)

PhD Supervision

• Nathan Coles (SHLS, Teesside University)

PhD Completions

• Dr Agathe Quesnel (SHLS, Teesside University)
• Dr Daniel Erskine (Newcastle University)
• Dr Lina Patterson (Newcastle University)

• PI: 2023. 'Label-free Raman spectral analysis of α-synuclein aggregation using a modified RT-QuIC assay in post-mortem cerebrospinal tissue in Lewy body dementia'. Alzheimer’s Research UK Network Centre Pump-priming grant. £4292.
• Co-I: 2023. 'Novel approaches for the identification of alpha-synuclein modifications as potential biomarkers in melanoma'. Biochemical Society. £5000. 
• PI: 2022. 'An examination of phosphoproteome patterns in alpha synuclein using LC-MS/MS'. Alzheimer’s Research UK Network Centre Pump-priming grant. £4327.
• Co-I: 2021-2024. 'Determining the impact of multiple pathologies in Lewy body dementia'. Alzheimer’s Research UK. £207,416. 
• Co-I: 2015–2019. ‘Understanding the basis and interaction of non-cognitive and cognitive symptoms in dementia with Lewy bodies’. Alzheimer’s Society Doctoral Training Centre Grant. £350,000. 
• PI: 2014. ‘The role of the thalamic lateral pulvinar nucleus in visual hallucinations in the LBD’. Society for Biology Undergraduate Research Bursaries. £1440.
• PI/DoS: 2013–2017. 'The role of visual components of the thalamus in visual hallucinations in the LBD’. NIHR Yvonne Mairy PhD studentship. £177,000.
• Co-I: 2013–2016. ‘Molecular mechanisms underlying visual hallucinations in LBD. Alzheimer’s Society. £178,419.
• PI: 2012–2013. ‘Investigating the biochemical basis of visual hallucinations in LBD’. NIHR Newcastle BRU Award. £41,000. 

• Centre for SHLS Biodiscovery Disease Analytics cluster lead. 
• Dementia and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Network member.
• Lewy Body Dementia Association 'Prodromal' and 'Trial Methods' ISTAART Working Groups member.
• Deep Dementia Phenotyping (DEMON) Network member
• NovoPath Seminar Group member.
• Neurodegenerative Pathology Research Group member at Newcastle University. https://research.ncl.ac.uk/ndprg/.

• Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science.
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
• Co-lead of the Dementia Research Partnership Network.
• Member of the Alzheimer's Research UK Network Pump Panel Award Panel.
• Member of the Alzheimer's Association.
• Member of International Movement Disorder and Parkinson's Society.
• Member of The British Society of Gerontology.
• Associate member of Fuse Centre for Translational Research in Public Health.
• Trustee of Neuro Key.
• Member of the Teesside Dementia Steering Group.
• Review Editor in Aging Psychiatry for Frontiers in Psychiatry.
• Review Editor in Dementia pathology and Co-morbidities for Frontiers in Dementia.
• Grant reviewer for EPSRC, Alzheimer’s Society and BRACE - Alzheimer's Research.
• Manuscript reviewer for British Journal of Psychiatry, Psychopharmacology, Current Drug Targets, Pharmacogenetics and Genomics, Journal of Affective Disorders, Psychiatry Research, Current Molecular Medicine, Neurobiology of Aging, Neurobiology of Disease, and Frontiers in Psychiatry.
• Proofreader/Copy Editor.