Chrystalina Antoniades

Associate Professor Chrystalina Antoniades

Principal Investigator, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lecturer in Medicine at Brasnose College

When did you first get interested in the brain?

Goodness where do I start?  I guess from a very young age I was always curious about things around me, how do we remember things, how do we see colour and 3D etc?  

My passion and interest to study the brain and specifically neurological disorders was reinforced with my PhD studies at the University of Cambridge. Having the 2 Rogers ,as I called them, as my supervisors  Roger Barker (a wonderful clinician scientist) and Roger Carpenter (an Oculomotor physiologist)  did the trick.

Who has inspired you during your career?

During my studies at Cambridge, I had the great fortune  to meet and work closely with the late Professor Roger Carpenter who introduced me to one of his passions, the study of eye movements.. He was such an inspiration to me and ended up being not only my supervisor but a fabulous friend, who was pivotal in my career.  He then introduced me to another great giant in my area Prof Chris Kennard, a lovely mentor,  who convinced me to move to Oxford for a bit…. I’m still here and very grateful. 

What is the next exciting breakthrough in your field going to be?

I guess one of the exciting areas we are looking forward to is being able to monitor accurately both disease progression as well as treatment effect. With new clinical trials around the corner, especially in the area of Parkinsonism, we are in desperate need of this.

What do you do outside the lab?

I love spending time with my family, playing the piano, do lots of gardening, all sorts of public engagement  and oh I'm learning how to fly a small plane…. highly recommended!

What’s your favourite film/book/music? 

I’m a classical pianist so I do love my classic music but I must admit I really like jazz.  

I have lots of favourites but I do have one poem I particularly like from C Kavafys, a Greek poet and one of his lovely poems Ithaca. It’s all about the journey of life "As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery”.