Cllr Leah Mursaleen-Plank

Ward: Mickleham, Westcott & Okewood 

Liberal Democrat Member

Leah grew up in Ashtead and currently lives in the outskirts of Dorking with her husband and daughter. She completed her BSc and MRes in Neuroscience at the University of Sussex and her PhD at the University of Westminster, in collaboration with the School of Pharmacy at UCL. Her PhD was focused on investigating novel therapeutic approaches for neurodegenerative diseases.

From 2014-2023, with the research charity Cure Parkinson’s, she worked closely with patients, industry, the NHS, and academia to develop new research focused on slowing, stopping, and reversing Parkinson’s, liaising with other funding bodies and regulatory agencies to understand the hurdles of moving research forward. She is now applying these learnings to dementia research as Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Leah believes that collaboration and inclusivity is key to the successful delivery of projects, whether that be scientific or community projects, and is the Diversity Officer for the Mole Valley Liberal Democrats.