"I am thrilled to be named as an Emerging Leader at the UK DRI. With driven and passionate colleagues, I aim to discover new mechanisms leading to disease in FTD/ALS, with the goal always being to identify new therapeutic targets in order to significantly improve patient's disease trajectory." Emma Clayton
UK DRI Emerging Leader
Dr Emma Clayton became a UK DRI Emerging Leader in 2023, sponsored by Dr Sarah Mizielinska, after becoming an Alzheimer’s Research UK Senior Research Fellow. Dr Clayton completed her PhD at the University of Edinburgh, where she investigated synaptic function, looking at fundamental mechanisms of synaptic vesicle cycling under intense stimulation. From there, she moved to Prof Adrian Isaac’s lab (UK DRI at UCL) where she applied her membrane trafficking expertise to a rare mutation causative for frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Dr Clayton worked with Prof Stephanie Schorge at UCL to show that CHMP2B FTD is a novel synaptopathy, presenting with presynaptic membrane trafficking defects. Expanding on this novel description of synaptopathy in CHMP2B FTD, her ARUK funded senior fellowship seeks to investigate presynaptic proteostasis. Dr Clayton's lab is investigating local protein translation and degradation as a convergent pathomechanism in ALS and FTD.
