The College warmly congratulates Lecturer in Neuroscience Dr David Menassa who has received the 2026 Saïd Foundation Alumni Achievement Prize.
The prize recognises an individual who has made a significant contribution to the development of their field of research and the Levant region.
Dr Menassa is a neuroscientist whose research focuses on understanding how the brain is affected in developmental conditions such as autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, and intellectual disability, as well as in diseases of ageing such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. In particular, his work centres on microglia, the immune cells of the brain, which are increasingly recognised as important in the treatment of these conditions. Key examples of his work are studies on human microglial development and the co-development of tools for neuropathology such as DeepCellMap, which use deep learning and spatial statistics to map cellular organisation in human tissues.
You can see him speak about his research and commitment to the Levant region in the short video below.
