MsVanessa Drevenakova

Vanessa Drevenakova is a PhD student in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London and part of the UK Dementia Research Institute. Her research focuses on non-invasive brain stimulation technologies to improve brain health during ageing.

 

She works with focused ultrasound, a non-invasive technology that uses precisely targeted sound waves that can reach deep into the brain and modulate cellular activity. Her work explores whether this approach can restore the function of the brain’s immune cells, which become less effective with age and contribute to inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases. By restoring the function of these cells, she hopes to slow aspects of brain ageing and, in the long term, reduce the risk of conditions such as dementia.

 

Vanessa is particularly interested in translating laboratory discoveries into real-world treatments and in communicating science to patients and the public. She was awarded the MRC Max Perutz Science Writing Award 2025 and Dr Katharine Giles Award for best new academic voice 2026 for communicating her research to the public, and her work has been featured in national media, including The Observer and Sky News.

 

Her PhD is supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC), and she is part of the MultiSci MRC Doctoral Training Programme. As a part of this programme, she completed an MRes in Biomedical Research at Imperial, receiving the Dean’s Award for the Best Academic Achievement. Before this, she completed an MRes in Bioengineering and a BSc in Medical Biosciences, both at Imperial College London.