Andreea Ingrid Baloc
PhD Project Title: Characterising microglia/CD4+ T cell interactions during neurodevelopment using human cellular and tissue models
PhD Supervisors: Dr Shahram Kordasti & Dr Anthony Vernon
Educational and Career Background: I completed my undergraduate degree in Psychology with a placement year at Cardiff University. I then worked as a research assistant for the NHS, followed by a Master's in Clinical Neuroscience at King's.
Diana Cardoso
PhD Project Title: Exploring the interaction between T-cells and neurons using human cellular models
PhD Supervisors: Prof Leonie Taams & Prof Deepak Srivastava
Educational and Career Background: I received my MSc in Immunology from King's College London, with my project focusing on the metabolic regulation of CD4+ T cells. I then worked as a research assistant in a UK-based biotech focused on cell therapy for nearly two years.
Aitana Padilla Requerey
PhD Project Title: Human endogenous retroviruses: the link between maternal immune activation and neurobiological risk mechanisms for schizophrenia?
PhD Supervisors: Dr Tim Powell & Prof Deepak Srivastava
Educational and Career Background: I completed a BSc in Neuroscience at the University of California Los Angeles and an MSc in Clinical Neuroscience at UCL. At UCLA, I formed part of a team led by Dr. Allan Mackenzie-Graham investigating an animal model of Multiple Sclerosis. Later on, at UCL, I worked under the supervision of Dr. Dervis Salih in Dr. John Hardy’s lab investigating the OAS1-RNAse L pathway in Alzheimer’s Disease.
Hanna Roetschke
PhD Project Title: Development of methods for epitope discovery and targeted immunotherapy to be applied in gliomas and beyond
PhD Supervisors: Dr Michele Mishto & Prof Keyoumars Ashkan
Educational and Career Background: I received my BSc in Biochemistry from Goettingen university (Germany), with a focus on Bioinformatics. At the same time, I was working as a research assistant in computational systems immunology. I also completed research internships in various fields (molecular plant biology, sleep genetics and bacterial chemotaxis), on my way to finally arrive in neuro-immunology.
Matthew Siddle
PhD Project Title: Is fatty liver disease increasing our risk of developing neurodegenerative conditions?
PhD Supervisors: Prof Debbie Shawcross & Dr Anna Hadjichambi
Educational and Career Background: I studied BSc. (Hons) Neuroscience with Industrial Placement at University of Manchester, in which I undertook a year research project at Boehringer Ingelheim and a short Amgen Scholars project at University of Cambridge. After graduating and prior to joining this programme, I worked as a research assistant at UCL in the Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, exploring the potential of restoring dystrophin within the brain in the context of muscular dystrophy.
Alessandra Tamashiro Orrego
PhD Project Title: Elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of immune activation in fibromyalgia
PhD Supervisors: Dr Rocio Martinez-Nunes & Prof David Andersson
Educational and Career Background: I received my bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences from Drexel University, USA. Afterwards I worked as a research technician for a couple of years at Tufts University, USA. Following this, I obtained my master's degree in Biomedicine at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden before moving here!