Model Systems in Neuroscience Research ONLINE

Dr Alex Benedetto

Senior lecturer in Integrative Physiology, Lancaster University

Dr Benedetto is a Senior Lecturer in Biomedicine at Lancaster University, UK. His academic profile can be viewed here. 

Professor Caroline Brennan

Interim Head of School, Professor of Molecular Genetics, Queen Mary University of London

Prof Brennan is the Interim Head of School School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences at QMUL. Caroline is a Professor of Molecular Genetics with 20+ years experience as a researcher in the field of developmental and behavioural genetics. Caroline is primarily using zebrafish as a model for the study of the genetics of addiction and psychiatric disease. View LinkedIn. 

Dr Sue Broughton

Senior Lecturer in Biogerontology, Lancaster University

Dr Broughton's research interests lie in the mechanisms of ageing, particularly the relationship between lifespan and healthspan, using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model organism.

She has a particular interest in the role of the insulin/IGF-like signalling pathway and diet in modulating lifespan and age-related functional and cognitive decline using behavioural and anatomical measures of brain ageing.

Dr Neil Dawson

Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience, Lancaster University

My research interests are focused on further understanding the mechanisms through which genetic and environmental risk factors for psychiatric, neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disease impact on brain functioning, behaviour and cognition. I also have a primary interest in developing and validating translational preclinical models for these disorders for utilization in the drug discovery process, in the hope that we can use these models to identify novel drugs to treat these disorders.

Dr Cheryl Hawkes

Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience, Lancaster University

My research focuses on understanding the aetiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In particular, I focus on the development of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), the deposition of toxic β-amyloid proteins in the walls of the blood vessels of the AD brain. I am interested in how risk factors for AD, such as ageing and obesity, affect the structure of the blood vessels and their ability to remove β-amyloid from the brain.

I am also interested in how the early life environment, including maternal and paternal obesity, impacts on the health and function of the offspring brain and if the early life environment predisposes individuals towards developing age-related diseases like AD.

Dr Sandrine Willaime-Morawek

Associate Professor in Stem Cells and Neurobiology, University of Southampton

As a neuroscientist and stem cell biologist, I am a Associate Professor in Stem Cells and Neurobiology, Principal Investigator, linking my basic research to industry and clinical needs, as well as integrated PhD programme lead, MRC DTP deputy lead and Doctoral Programme Lead.

Having graduated in Biology from the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France, I completed my PhD in Neurosciences at the University of Paris VI, France, working on intracellular signalling pathways during neuronal apoptosis I then moved on as postdoctoral fellow in Professor Derek van der Kooy’s team in Toronto, Canada, working on neural stem cells during development, in the adult brain and in different pathological conditions, before joining Southampton.