DrIvan Koychev

My interests lie in the development of novel approaches to the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders and neurodegeneration in particular. The main programmes of research focus on the identification and intervention in people at risk for dementia. In this context I repurpose metabolic compounds (GLP-1 receptor agonists in particular) for secondary prevention of neurodegeneration. I also have a programme of work developing digital therapeutics for dementia risk.

Identification of dementia risk:
- READ OUT programme: Observational and randomised control studies exploring the real-world utility of blood and digital biomarkers in Memory Clinic populations.
- FAST Brain Health study: Large observational multi-site study focused on evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of screening for dementia risk using digital and blood biomarkers.
- SANDBOX and BRIDGES studies: Observational and randomised control studies aimed at evaluating the utility, acceptability and cost-effectiveness of digital and blood biomarkers in triaging patients referred to Memory Clinics in the NHS.
- BIRA study: Experimental medicine study evaluating the cognitive predictive utility of central insulin sensitivity in ageing adults and patients with subacute traumatic brain injury. The central insulin sensitivity is determined by comparing the responsiveness of the brain using fMRI and ASL to an intranasal insulin challenge.
- Glymphatics-derived neuroinflammatory signatures programme: In a series of experiments we evaluate the neuroinflammatory signatures in samples obtained through ultrasound-guided cervical lymph biopsy in people at-risk for dementias as well as individuals undergoing major surgery.
- DFP and PREVENT studies: Observational studies developing biomarkers of dementia in prodromal Alzheimer's disease and individuals at-risk for dementia respectively.
- Great Minds and Clinical Studies Registers: Dementias Platform UK (DPUK) brain health volunteer registers that allow targeted recruitment of individuals at-risk for dementia.

Intervention:
- ISAP trial: A randomised placebo-controlled multi-site trial exploring the impact of a GLP-1 receptor agonist (semaglutide) on Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in people at risk for dementia.
- Five Lives MED: A randomised trial evaluating the acceptability and effectiveness of digitally delivered cognitive remediation therapy in Mild Cognitive Impairment. This project builds on previous work with an industry partner (Five Lives SAS) where we developed a digital platform for the identification and tailored intervention in dementia risk.

More broadly, my work is part of the DPUK project where I lead a Work Package focused on stratified recruitment of brain health volunteers into clinical studies. At Imperial College London I am affiliated with the Dementia Research Institute and the Dementia Trials Accelerator. In this context, I contribute to the development of large-scale trial-ready dementia cohorts.

My group consists of post-doctoral researchers and graduate students who support the programme of work above:
Ahmet Begde and Yi Yang: Post-doctoral researchers at the University of Oxford leading on the READ OUT project.
Maria Bunyan: iCASE award PhD student at the University of Oxford working on digital methods for implementing secondary prevention of dementia.
Dishaa Sinha: PhD student at the University of Oxford developing scalable methods for identifying dementia risk. PhD funded by industry partner CFDX.
Thareq Basarabha: PhD student at the University of Oxford working on digital cognitive remediation interventions.
Courtney Yotter: PhD student at the University of Oxford focused on central insulin resistance role in neurodegeneration.
Brianna Austin: PhD student at Imperial College London working on central insulin resistance experimental studies in traumatic brain injury.
Lucy Jobbins: PhD student at the University of Oxford researching sleep in dementia and neurodegeneration.
Pippa Watson: PhD student at the University of Oxford working on the contribution of early life adversity to late-life dementia risk.
Sarah Hawkes: MRes student at the University of Oxford conducting research on the effectiveness of mindfulness in non-epileptic attack disorder