DrDexter Penn

Dr Penn's current research investigates the haemodynamic mechanisms of cerebral small vessel disease. He utilises big data analysis to understand the population-level relationships of cardiovascular physiologic measurements with clinical outcomes, primarily vascular dementia and stroke. These observations inform potential pathophysiologic mechanisms for cerebral small vessel disease, which is heavily implicated in both vascular dementia and stroke.

This work sits at the intersection of cardiovascular physiology, neurology, and cardiology, and draws on ambulatory haemodynamic monitoring, phase-contrast MRI cerebrovascular imaging, and longitudinal cognitive assessment. His broader research interests include:

• Cerebral small vessel disease and its haemodynamic determinants
• The cardiovascular-cerebrovascular interface in cognitive ageing
• Vascular contributions to dementia and mild cognitive impairment
• Biomarker-informed phenotyping in neurodegenerative disease
• Mechanistic clinical trial methodology