You are here

  1. Home
  2. Dr Payam Rezaie

Dr Payam Rezaie

Profile summary

Professional biography

I am a neuroscientist with expertise and research interest in Neurodegenerative and Neuropsychiatric disorders, Neuropathology, Neuroimmunology, and Developmental Neurobiology. I have extensive teaching experience in the Neurosciences and Mental Health, with a broader interest in postgraduate studies, medical education, online and distance-learning.

I joined the Open University in 2003, coming from the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, where I co-ordinated and led research into the pathogenesis of prion diseases funded by the European Union (1998-2003). My research at the Open University has focused on the neurobiology of autism (2003-2012), collaborating with colleagues in Germany, leading a programme supported by NAAR, Autism Speaks and ATP in the United States, and on microglial cell development (2006-present) collaborating with colleagues at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and in Japan. I have held long-standing honorary and visiting academic appointments at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London (2001-2014), and have taught on the MSc Neuroscience programme at the Institute for nearly two decades (1995-2014). I was appointed Reader at the OU in 2008 and Head of the Brain and Behavioural Sciences Discipline from 2011-2013 (Faculty of Science, LHCS Department).

I have directed the Science Taught Postgraduate Programme (2013-2016), and developed and led the MSc in Mental Health Science (2016-2023) and the ‘Open Masters’ programmes (MA/MSc Open (2016-2023). At institutional level, I was involved in developing the Valued Ways of Working for Academics and Leadership Competency Frameworks (2012) and as Academic Lead on the University’s Taught Postgraduate Pass Mark and Classification Project (2018-2020) which has seen the transition to the 50% pass mark and a new Classification Framework for Taught Postgraduate at the OU. I have also made significant contributions to taught postgraduate induction as co-author of the ‘Succeeding in Postgraduate Study’ Badged Open Course (launched in 2017) and have authored advanced free learning resources on Mental Health focusing on Anxiety and Depression on OpenLearn (2019).

I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (RSB) and a member of the Royal Institution of Great Britain (RI), the British Neuropathological Society (BNS), International Society of Neuropathology (ISN), the British Neuroscience Association (BNA), Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), the International Brain Research Organisation (IBRO) and the Biosciences Federation (BSF). I have served on the General and Academic Committees of the BNS (2006-2010), on the Advisory Board of the UK Brain Bank for Autism and Related Developmental Research (2009-2018), on the Open University's Senate (2008-2012), Research Careers Development Advisory Group (2006-2014), Taught Postgraduate Advisory Group (2014-2018), as Chair of the STEM Taught Postgraduate Group (2017-2021), as Postgraduate Science Exam and Award Board Chair (2016-2023), OU Validation Partnerships External Review Panel Chair (2019), and as an academic member contributing to the ongoing work of the Assessment Programme (2018-present) and the Human Research Ethics Committee (2022-present).

BSc (Honours) Physiology, King's College London, University of London.
MSc and PhD in Neuroscience (Neuropathology and Neuroimmunology), Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, University of London.

Research groups

NameTypeParent Unit
Biomedical Research Network (BRN)NetworkFaculty of Science
Neuroscience Research GroupGroupFaculty of Science

Publications

Glial cells are functionally impaired in juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis and detrimental to neurons. (2017-10-17)
Parviainen, Lotta; Dihanich, Sybille; Anderson, Greg W; Wong, Andrew M; Brooks, Helen R; Abeti, Rosella; Rezaie, Payam; Lalli, Giovanna; Pope, Simon; Heales, Simon J; Mitchison, Hannah M; Williams, Brenda P and Cooper, Jonathan D
Acta neuropathologica communications, 5(1) (p 74)


Impact of age-related neuroglial cell responses on hippocampal deterioration (2015-04-29)
Ojo, Joseph O.; Rezaie, Payam; Gabbott, Paul and Stewart, Michael G.
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 7, Article 57


Dysfunctional Dopaminergic Neurones in Mouse Models of Huntington's Disease: A Role for SK3 Channels (2015-04-09)
Dallerac, G.M.; Levasseur, G.; Vatsavayai, S.C.; Milnerwood, A.J.; Cummings, D.M.; Kraev, I.; Huetz, C.; Evans, K.A.; Walters, S.W.; Rezaie, P.; Cho, Y.; Hirst, M.C. and Murphy, K.P.S.J.
Neurodegenerative Diseases, 15(2) (pp. 93-108)


An NCAM mimetic, FGL, alters hippocampal cellular morphometry in young adult (4 month-old) rats (2013)
Ojo, Bunmi; Gabbott, Paul L.; Rezaie, Payam; Corbett, Nicola; Medvedev, Nikolay I.; Cowley, Thelma R.; Lynch, Marina and Stewart, Michael G.
Neurochemical Research, 38, Article PMID: 23076631(6) (pp. 1208-1218)


Age-related changes in the hippocampus (loss of synaptophysin and glial-synaptic interaction) are modified by systemic treatment with an NCAM-derived peptide, FGL (2012-07)
Ojo, Bunmi; Rezaie, Payam; Gabbott, Paul; Davies, Heather; Colyer, Frances; Cowley, Thelma R.; Lynch, Marina and Stewart, Michael
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 26(5) (778- 788)


A neural cell adhesion molecule-derived peptide, FGL, attenuates glial cell activation in the aged hippocampus (2011-12)
Ojo, Bunmi; Rezaie, Payam; Gabbott, Paul L.; Cowely, Thelma R.; Medvedev, Nikolay I.; Lynch, Marina A. and Stewart, Michael G.
Experimental Neurology, 232(2) (pp. 318-328)


Impaired long-term potentiation in the prefrontal cortex of Huntington’s disease mouse models: rescue by D1 dopamine receptor activation (2011-05)
Dallérac, G. M.; Vatsavayai, S. V.; Cummings, D. M.; Milnerwood, A. J.; Peddie, C. J.; Evans, K. A.; Walters, S. W.; Rezaie, P.; Hirst, M. C. and Murphy, K. P. S. J.
Neurodegenerative Diseases, 8(4) (pp. 230-239)


Expression of chemokines and their receptors by human brain endothelium: Implications for multiple sclerosis (2009-03)
Subileau, Eve A; Rezaie, Payam; Davies, Heather; Colyer, Frances; Greenwood, John; Male, David and Romero, Ignacio A
Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 68(3) (pp. 227-240)


Alteration of blood–brain barrier integrity by retroviral infection (2008-11-04)
Afonso, Philippe V.; Ozden, Simona; Cumont, Marie-Christine; Seilhean, Danielle; Cartier, Luis; Rezaie, Payam; Mason, Sarah; Lambert, Sophie; Huerre, Michel; Gessain, Antoine; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Pique, Claudine; Ceccaldi, Pierre-Emmanuel and Romero, Ignacio A.
PLoS Pathogens, 4, Article e1000205(11)


Dynamic expression of Dab2 in the mouse embryonic central nervous system (2008)
Cheung, Kwok-Kuen; Mok, Samuel C.; Rezaie, Payam and Chan, Wood Yee
BMC Developmental Biology, 8 (p 76)


The neuropathology of autism: where do we stand? (2008)
Schmitz, C. and Rezaie, P.
Neuropathology & Applied Neurobiology, 34(1) (pp. 4-11)


Vacuolar degeneration affecting brain acrophages/microglia in variant CJD: a report on two cases (2007-12)
Rezaie, Payam and Al-Sarraj, Safa
Acta Neuropathologica, 114(6) (pp. 651-658)


Progressive CAG expansion in the brain of a novel R6/1-89Q mouse model of Huntington's disease with delayed phenotypic onset (2007-04-30)
Vatsavayai, Sarat C.; Dallerac, Glenn M.; Milnerwood, Austen J.; Cummings, Damian M.; Rezaie, Payam; Murphy, Kerry P.S.J. and Hirst, Mark C.
Brain Research Bulletin, 72(2-3) (pp. 98-102)


The origin and cell lineage of microglia — new concepts (2007-02-03)
Chan, W.Y.; Kohsaka, S. and Rezaie, P.
Brain Research Reviews, 53(2) (pp. 344-354)


Early development of aberrant synaptic plasticity in a mouse model of Huntington's disease (2006-05-15)
Milnerwood, Austen J.; Cummings, Damian M.; Dallerac, Glenn M.; Brown, Jacki Y.; Vatsavayai, Sarat C.; Hirst, Mark C.; Rezaie, Payam and Murphy, Kerry P.S.J.
Human Molecular Genetics, 15(10) (pp. 1690-1703)


Activation of non-neuronal cells within the prenatal developing brain of sheep with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (2006-04)
Kay, Gaham W.; Palmer, David N.; Rezaie, Payam and Cooper, Jonathan D.
Brain Pathology, 16(2) (pp. 110-116)


Glial activation spreads from specific cerebral foci and precedes neurodegeneration in presymptomatic ovine neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (CLN6) (2005-10)
Oswald, Manfred J.; Palmer, David N.; Kay, Graham W.; Shemilt, Stephen J.A.; Rezaie, Payam and Cooper, Jonathan D.
Neurobiology of Disease, 20(1) (pp. 49-63)


Microglia in the cerebral wall of the human telencephalon at second trimester (2005-07)
Rezaie, Payam; Dean, Andrew; Male, David and Ulfig, Norbert
Cerebral Cortex, 15(7) (pp. 938-949)


Transient expression of MIDC-8 in the normal mouse brain (2005-04-04)
Rezaie, Payam; Corbisiero, Vanessa and Male, David
Neuroscience Letters, 377(3) (pp. 189-194)


Expression of cellular prion protein in the frontal and occipital lobe in Alzheimer's disease, diffuse Lewy Body disease, and in normal brain: an immunohistochemical study (2005)
Rezaie, Payam; Pontikis, Charlie C.; Hudson, Lance; Cairns, Nigel J. and Lantos, Peter L.
Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry, 53(8) (pp. 929-940)


Late onset neurodegeneration in the Cln3-/- mouse model of juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis is preceded by low level glial activation (2004-10)
Pontikis, Charlie C.; Cella, Claire V.; Parihar, Nisha; Lim, Ming J.; Chakrabarti, Shubhodeep; Mitchison, Hannah M.; Mobley, William C.; Rezaie, Payam; Pearce, David A. and Cooper, Jonathan D.
Brain Research, 1023(2) (pp. 231-242)


Brain macrophages and microglia in human fetal hydrocephalus (2004-08)
Ulfig, Norbert; Bohl, Jürgen; Neudörfer, Frank and Rezaie, Payam
Brain and Development, 26(5) (pp. 307-315)


Subdural hematoma (SDH): assessment of macrophage reactivity within the dura mater and underlying hematoma (2004-04)
Al-Sarraj, S.; Mohamed, S.; Kibble, M. and Rezaie, P.
Clinical Neuropathology, 23(2) (pp. 62-75)


Hippocampal neuron loss is greater than amyloid plaque load in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (2004-04)
Schmitz, Christoph; Rutten, Bart P.F.; Pielen, Andrea; Schafer, Stephanie; Wirths, Oliver; Tremp, Gunter; Czech, Christian; Blanchard, Veronique; Multhaup, Gerd; Rezaie, Payam; Korr, Hubert; Steinbusch, Harry W.M.; Pradier, Laurent and Bayer, Thomas A.
American Journal of Pathology, 164(4) (pp. 1495-1502)


Anomalous alterations affecting microglia in the central nervous system of a fetus at 12 weeks of gestation: case report (2004-02)
Rezaie, Payam; Bohl, Jurgen and Ulfig, Norbert
Acta Neuropathologica, 107(2) (pp. 176-180)


Excitotoxic lesioning of the rat basal forebrain with S-AMPA: consequent mineralization and associated glial response (2003-02)
Oliveira, Alcyr; Hodges, Helen and Rezaie, Payam
Experimental Neurology, 179(2) (pp. 127-138)


Microglia in the human nervous system during development (2003-02)
Rezaie, Payam
Neuroembryology, 2(1) (pp. 18-31)


In vitro expression of major histocompatibility class I and class II antigens by conditionally immortalized murine neural stem cells (2003)
Modo, M.; Mellodew, K. and Rezaie, P.
Neuroscience Letters, 337(2) (pp. 85-88)


Microglia in fetal and adult human brain can be distinguished from other mononuclear phagocytes through their lack of CD163 expression (2003)
Rezaie, Payam and Male, David
Neuroembryology, 2(3) (pp. 130-133)


Distribution and morphology of GFAP-positive astrocytes in the human fetal brain at second trimester (2003)
Rezaie, Payam; Ulfig, Norbert and Male, David
Neuroembryology and Aging, 2(2) (pp. 50-63)


Periventricular leukomalacia, inflammation and white matter lesions within the developing nervous system (2002-09)
Rezaie, Payam and Dean, Andrew
Neuropathology, 22 (pp. 106-132)


Microglial colonization of the developing mouse brain: the effects of CD11b deletion [poster presentation] (2002-04)
Jeetle, J.K.; Hagger, G.N.; Topps, S.S.; Male, D.K. and Rezaie, P.
Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 28 (p 164)


Motility and ramification of human fetal microglia in culture: an investigation using time-lapse video microscopy and image analysis (2002-03-10)
Rezaie, P.; Trillo-Pazos, G.; Greenwood, J.; Everall, I.P. and Male, D.K.
Experimental Cell Research, 274(1) (pp. 68-82)


Periventricular leukomalacia: the role of inflammatory mediators and microglia in pathogenesis (2002)
Rezaie, Payam and Dean, Andrew
Neuroembryology and Aging, 1(2) (pp. 91-96)


Differentiation, ramification and distribution of Microglia within the central nervous system examined (2002)
Rezaie, Payam and Male, David
Neuroembryology and Aging, 1(1) (pp. 29-43)


Mesoglia & microglia: a historical review of the concept of mononuclear phagocytes within the central nervous system (2002)
Rezaie, Payam and Male, David
Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 11 (pp. 325-374)


Expression of beta-chemokines and chemokine receptors in human fetal astrocyte and microglial co-cultures: potential role of chemokines in the developing CNS (2002)
Rezaie, Payam; Trillo-Pazos, G.; Everall, I.P. and Male, David
Glia, 37(1) (pp. 64-75)


Transplantation of neural stem cells in a rat model of stroke: assessment of short-term graft survival and acute host immunological response (2002)
Modo, Michael; Rezaie, Payam; Heuschling, Paul; Patel, Sara; Male, David K. and Hodges, Helen
Brain Research, 958(1) (pp. 70-82)


Colonisation of the human central nervous system by microglia: the roles of chemokines and vascular adhesion molecules (2001-12-07)
Male, David and Rezaie, Payam
Progress In Brain Research, 132 (pp. 81-93)


Microglia and the pathogenesis of spongiform encephalopathies (2001-03)
Rezaie, P. and Lantos, P.L.
Brain Research Reviews, 35(1) (pp. 55-72)


Researching the Autism Spectrum: Contemporary Perspectives (2011-01-11)
Roth, Ilona and Rezaie, Payam eds.
ISBN : 9780521518963 | Publisher : Cambridge University Press | Published : Cambridge


The anterior cingulate (BA24c, BA32), ectorhinal (BA36) and triangular (BA45) cortices in autism: a stereological investigation of deep cortical layers and subcortical white matter (2011)
Dunham, J. S.; Del Valle Suarez, E. M.; Schmitz, C.; Gabbott, P. L. and Rezaie, P.
In : 112th Meeting of the British Neuropathological Society (05-07 Jan 2011, Institute of Child Health, London)


A quantitative analysis of synaptophysin immunoreactivity within the cerebral cortex in autism (2011)
Nesaratnam, N.; Dunham, J. S.; Gabbott, P. L.; Mason, S.; Schmitz, C. and Rezaie, P.
In : 112th Meeting of the British Neuropathological Society (5-7 Jan 2011, Institute of Child Health, London)


The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (BA32) in autism: Morphometric analyses of deep cortical layers and subcortical white matter (2010-11)
Dunham, J.S.; Del Valle Suarez, E. M.; Wiles, D. P. L.; Schmitz, C.; Gabbott, P. L. and Rezaie, P.
In : The Emerging Neuroscience of Autism Spectrum Disorders: Etiologic Insights; Treatment Opportunities (11-12 Nov 2010, San Diego, CA)


Age-related changes within the hippocampus: attenuation of glial activation and synaptic loss by a cell adhesion molecule mimetic (FGL) (2010)
Ojo, B.; Rezaie, P.; Gabbott, P. L.; Medvedev, N.; Cowley, T.; Lynch, M. A. and Stewart, M. G.
In : FENS Forum 2010 (3-7Jul 2010, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)


A systematic evaluation of dendritic and neuronal (MAP2, SMI-311) immunolabelling within the cerebral cortex in autism (2009-04-22)
Del Valle Suarez, E.; Schmitz, C; Rezaie, P. and Gabbott, P.
In : British Neuroscience Association 20th National meeting (19-22 Apr 2009, Liverpool)


A systematic study of MAP2 and SMI-311 immunolabelled neurons and dendrites within the cerebral cortex in autism (2009)
Rezaie, P.; Del Valle Suarez, E. M.; Schmitz, C. and Gabbott, P. L.
In : 110th Meeting of the British Neuropathological Society (7-9 Jan 2009, Institute of Child Health, London)


Overexpression of S100β within the cerebral cortex in autism (2009)
Rezaie, P.; Mason, S.; Landau, S. and Schmitz, C.
In : 110th Meeting of the British Neuropathological Society (7-9 Jan 2009, Institute of Child Health, London)


The neuropathology of autism - neuronal cytoarchitectural alterations and glial cell responses (2007-05-11)
Schmitz, C. and Rezaie, Payam
In : Autism Research in the UK - from diagnosis to intervention (National Conference) (11-12 May 2007, Milton Keynes, UK)


Glial cells within the cerebral cortex in autism (2007-04-01)
Rezaie, P.; Landau, S.; Mason, S. and Schmitz, C.
In : 19th National Meeting of the British Neuroscience Association (Symposium on the Neuropathology of Autism) (1-4 Apr 2007, Harrogate, UK)


Human cerebral endothelial cells support infection by HTLV (2007)
Afonzo, P. V.; Ceccaldi, P.-E.; Ozdeni, S.; Mason, S.; Lambert, S.; Seilhea, D.; Cartier, L.; Gessain, A.; Rezaie, P.; Pique, C. and Romero, I. A.
In : 7th Cerebral Vascular Biology International Conference (24-28 Jun 2007, Ottawa, Canada)


Assessment of glial cell reactivity within the frontal lobe in autism (platform presentation) (2006)
Rezaie, Payam; Mason, Sarah; Afzal, S.; Kibble, M.; Al-Sarraj, S.; Dean, A.F. and Schmitz, C.
In : Abstracts of the 107th Meeting of the British Neuropathological Society (11-13 Jan 2006, Institute of Child Health, London)


Astrocytes and microglia in human type-II lissencephaly [poster presentation] (2005)
Rezaie, Payam; Steinbrecher, A.; Briese, M.; Stoltenburg-Didinger, G. and Ulfig, H.
In : 100th Meeting of the German Anatomical Society (11-14 Mar 2005, Leipzig, Germany)


Microglial progenitors in the human forebrain during the second trimester [poster presentation] (2004-12)
Rezaie, P.; Male, D.K. and Ulfig, N.
In : 15th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience (4-7 Aug 2004, Edinburgh, UK)


Radial glia, astrocytes and microglia in human type-II lissencephaly [poster presentation] (2004-08)
Rezaie, P.; Steinbrecher, A.; Briese, M.; Stoltenburg-Didinger, G. and Ulfig, N.
In : 15th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience (4-7 Aug 2004, Edinburgh, UK)


Regional expression of synaptic markers in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (platform presentation) (2004)
Harry-Olatoke, R.; Khan, M.N.; Al-Sarraj, S.; Lantos, P.L.; Anderton, B. and Rezaie, P.
In : 105th Meeting of the British Neuropathological Society (07-09 Jan 2004, Institute of Child Health, London)


Anomalous alterations affecting microglia in a human fetus at 12 weeks of gestation (platform presentation) (2004)
Rezaie, Payam; Bohl, J. and Ulfig, N.
In : 105th Meeting of the British Neuropathological Society (07-09 Jan 2004, Institute of Child Health, London)


Upregulation of astrocytic and microglial markers precedes late onset neurodegenerative changes in the Cln3-/- mouse model of juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (platform presentation) (2004)
Pontikis, C.C.; Cella, C.V.; Parihar, N.; Chakrabarti, S.; Mitchison, H.M.; Mobley, W.C.; Rezaie, Payam; Pearce, D.A. and Cooper, J.
In : 105th Meeting of the British Neuropathological Society (7-9 Jan 2004, Institute of Child Health, London)


Microglial anomaly in a human fetus at twelve weeks of gestation [poster presentation] (2004)
Rezaie, P.; Bohl, J. and Ulfig, N.
In : 99th Meeting of the German Anatomical Society (2-5 Apr 2004, Vienna, Austria)


On the origins of mononuclear phagocytes within the central nervous system [platform presentation] (2003)
Rezaie, Payam
In : Third International Symposium on Normal and Abnormal Development of the Human Fetal Brain (13-15 Jun 2003, Zagreb, Croatia)


Colonization of the developing mouse brain by microglial progenitors [poster presentation] (2003)
Corbisiero, V.; Hagger, G.; Topps, S.; Kohsaka, S.; Imai, Y.; Male, D. and Rezaie, P.
In : Third International Symposium on Normal and Abnormal Development of the Human Fetal Brain (13-15 Jun 2003, Zagreb, Croatia)


Brain macrophages and microglia in human fetal hydrocephalus [poster presentation] (2002-08)
Ulfig, Norbert; Bohl, Jürgen; Neudörfer, Frank and Rezaie, Payam
In : 19th Workshop of the German Anatomical Society (Oct 2002, Wurzburg, Germany) (pp. 307-315)


Timing of subdural haematoma [poster presentation] (2002)
Mohamed, S.; Rezaie, P. and Al-Sarraj, S.
In : 102nd Meeting of the British Neuropathological Society (9-11 Jan 2002, Institute of Child Health, London, UK)


A quantitative analysis of cellular prion protein (PrPc) expression in Alzheimer's disease, diffuse Lewy body disease and in normal brain [poster presentation] (2002)
Pontikis, C.; Hudson, L.; Lantos, P.L. and Rezaie, P.
In : Proceedings of the 102nd Meeting of the British Neuropathological Society (9-11 Jan 2002, London, UK)


Microglia in the CD11b knockout mouse [poster presentation] (2002)
Jeetle, J.; Hagger, G.N.; Topps, S.; Male, David and Rezaie, Payam
In : Second International Symposium on Normal and Abnormal Development of the Human Fetal Brain (24-25 May 2002, Institute of Anatomy, University of Rostock, Germany)


Unconventional `inflammatory' response and the pathogenesis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (2001)
Rezaie, P.; Male, D. K.; Collinge, J. and Lantos, P. L.
In : Centenary Meeting of the British Neuropathological Society (11-12 Jan 2001, London, UK)


Transmission of vCJD and BSE to wild-type and transgenic mice: neuropathology and immunocytochemical characterisation (2001)
Hudson, L.; Rezaie, P.; Collinge, C. and Lantos, P. L.
In : Centenary Meeting of the British Neuropathological Society (11-12 Jan 2001, London, UK)


History of Neuroscience: Mesoglia and Microglia (2007)
Rezaie, Payam
IBRO History of Neuroscience