Profile

I live in Bristol. I moved here from London to do my PhD and I’ve stayed here because I just love the city. I watch a lot of films and documentaries both on Netflix and at the awesome cinema’s in Bristol. I enjoy cycling and running in and around the countryside. I love travelling (I’ve been to 30 countries and counting) so I try to take holidays whenever I can! I also like cooking and getting together with friends at the local pub in the evenings.

Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia. In Alzheimer’s disease nerve cells in the brain die and we don’t know why. To try and find out, I work with donated human brains from a brain bank.

The brain bank collects fresh tissue from individuals who have chosen to donate their brain after death. The scientists dissect (cut up) the brain and store it either in a very cold freezer (-80 degrees Celsius) or they ‘fix’ the tissue which helps the brain keep it’s shape and stops it decomposing.

I use the frozen tissue to measure levels of proteins in the brain. I compare levels in people who had Alzheimer’s disease and people that did not have any disease or damage to their brain.  By comparing the two groups I can try and find what caused the disease, which is the first step to finding a treatment. I also cut very thin slices of tissue from the ‘fixed’ brain and use that to see where proteins are in the cells of the brain.

My work focuses on blood flow in the brain. In Alzheimer’s disease the brain doesn’t get enough blood. The lack of blood may be causing the nerve cells to die as they don’t receive enough oxygen. I’m trying to find out if they brain can make new blood vessels grow, which will increase the oxygen supply and hopefully keep the nerve cells alive.

I’ll usually do experiments in the lab using human tissue.
I use different methods for finding out the levels of proteins in human brain tissue. These methods can take 1 hour or up to 3 days. I enjoy working on the lab as it’s practical and hands on. Sometimes it can be frustrating when you find out your method hasn’t worked! Then you just have to change it and try again.
I also read the latest research. This is important as I have to keep up to date with the most recent developments in science. It’s exciting to read about brand new findings and apply them to my own work.

Write about my own work. To communicate with other scientists I need to write about the work I’m doing. I spend part of my time making sure my lab book is up to date and writing up my work for others to read.

I also spend some of my time teaching other students at University. This term I’m teaching neuroanatomy. I’m using human brains that have been ‘fixed’ so they hold their shape and don’t decompose. I then teach the names of different parts of the skull and brain. I enjoy teaching others and like that it’s part of my job.