UKDRI
Synapse
A meeting of early career researchers for the synapse theme

People

Members of the UK DRI Synapse theme

The UK DRI Synapse theme was established in May 2020 and is led by Prof Seth Grant (Associate Member at UK DRI Edinburgh) and Dr Samuel Barnes (UK DRI at Imperial).

Strengths and expertise across this theme include:

  • Molecular features of synaptic health (Grant), 
  • Physiology (Barnes, Busche, Gan, Opazo, Beccano-Kelly, Durrant), 
  • Neuronal-glial interactions (Hong, Spires-Jones, Morgan, Connor-Robson), 
  • Bioinformatics (Webber, Skene), 
  • Brain-states (Busche, Dijk, Grossman, Wisden, Jaramillo), 
  • Learning and memory (Krupic, Wiseman)
  • Molecular mechanisms (Avezov, Klennerman) 
  • Human synaptic measures (Durrant, Grant, Jackson, Matthews, Spires-Jones, Zetterberg)
  • Transynaptic spread (Spires-Jones, Duff, Schiavo, Klenerman)
Audience at the synapse symposium 2019

A synapse meeting in London in 2019

Prof Seth Grant

Prof Seth Grant

UK DRI Associate Member

University of Edinburgh

Professor of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh

Learn more Prof Seth Grant
Nir Grossman

Dr Nir Grossman

Group Leader

UK DRI at Imperial

Pioneering non-invasive neuromodulatory interventions to correct the abnormal brain activity in dementia

Learn more Dr Nir Grossman
Giles Hardingham

Prof Giles Hardingham

Centre Director

UK DRI at Edinburgh

Studying astrocytes to better understand their role in helping maintain a healthy brain

Learn more Prof Giles Hardingham
Soyon Hong

Dr Soyon Hong

Group Leader

UK DRI at UCL

Dissecting pathways by which microglia contribute to region-specific synapse dysfunction in neurodegeneration

Learn more Dr Soyon Hong
David Hunt

Dr David Hunt

Group Leader

UK DRI at Edinburgh

Investigating how innate immune activation causes damage to the microvasculature of the brain

Learn more Dr David Hunt
Jo Jackson

Dr Johanna Jackson

Emerging Leader

UK DRI at Imperial

Investigating synaptic vulnerability in Alzheimer's

Learn more Dr Johanna Jackson
Valeria jaramillo profile

Dr Valeria Jaramillo

Emerging Leader

UK DRI Care Research & Technology at Surrey

Using multimodal approaches to evaluate interventions to improve REM sleep in ageing and dementia

Learn more Dr Valeria Jaramillo
David Klenerman

Prof Sir David Klenerman

Group Leader

UK DRI at Cambridge

Determining how protein clumps form, damage the brain and change as the different neurodegenerative diseases develop to know which ones to target for therapies

Learn more Prof Sir David Klenerman
Julija Krupic profile

Dr Julija Krupic

Group Leader

UK DRI at UCL

Understanding early changes in neuron-glia circuits in Alzheimer’s disease

Learn more Dr Julija Krupic
Paul Matthews

Prof Paul Matthews

Group Leader

UK DRI at Imperial

Exploring neuronal vulnerability and genetic risk variants in Alzheimer’s progression

Learn more Prof Paul Matthews
Paul Morgan

Prof Paul Morgan

Interim Centre Director

UK DRI at Cardiff

Investigating exactly how key immune proteins contribute to Alzheimer's disease development

Learn more Prof Paul Morgan
Pato opazo

Dr Patricio Opazo

Group Leader

UK DRI at Edinburgh

Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic compensation and repair

Learn more Dr Patricio Opazo