Research focus
My research focuses on modelling metabolic diseases, neuroinflammation, and neurodegenerative diseases through both in vivo (mouse) and in vitro (e.g., human pluripotent stem cell-based) approaches. Specifically, one main project will aim to determine the mechanisms of action of a peptide-antibody conjugate in the treatment of obesity.
Background and experience
Before joining the IMS, my research focused on stress as a mechanism driving increased production of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species, which are implicated in the aetiology of stress-related and other neuropathological conditions. Following my PhD, I worked in the Neuroinflammation Laboratory at The University of Queensland (Australia), where I investigated the neuroinflammatory pathogenesis associated with dipeptide repeat proteins. Using various inflammation-related transgenic mouse lines deficient in specific innate immune receptors of the complement cascade, I also examined the role of these inflammatory components in mediating central stress responsiveness.
During my time in the Merkle group at IMS, I focused on using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons and transcriptomic approaches to identify genes genetically associated with obesity and targeted by FDA-approved drugs. In a parallel project, I aimed to characterise the time course of neuroinflammation induced by a high-fat, high-sugar diet to uncover the cellular and molecular mechanisms contributing to neuronal stress and damage.
Awards
Best Poster Silver Award (UK Glia Network – Inaugural Symposium, 2024)
BSN-SNE Poster Communication Award (4th BSN-SNE joint meeting of Neuroendocrinology, 2021)
SFRRA Young Investigator Award (Society for Free Radical Research (Australasia), 2018)
ISPNE Young Investigator Award (International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2015)
