Research interest
My overarching research interest is to understand of how genomic programmes in their interaction with external signals control cellular functions in brain development and disease. I am particularly interested in "omics" approaches to systematically study programmes controlling the functions of astrocytes, a major glial cell type, which has diverse functions critical for brain development and homeostasis. Astrocyte dysfunction has been implicated in many neurological disorders, including neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. My long-term vision is to harness these genomic mechanisms to restore or enhance protective astrocyte functions as therapeutic strategy for such disorders.
During my PhD work at Ulm University (Germany), I discovered that activating the inflammatory NF-kB signalling pathway in astrocytes in mice disrupts brain development, causes selective neurodegeneration, and alters disease progression in mouse models of neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.
To acquire expertise in stem cell modelling and genomics and related bioinformatics approaches, enabling myself to harness the huge potential of these approaches to improve our understanding of neurobiology and neurological disorders, I then joined the lab of Francois Guillemot at the Francis Crick Insititute, where I uncovered genomic mechanisms underlying the functional maturation of astrocytes.
To further develop my genomics expertise, I moved to Imperial, to the lab of the lab of Vincenzo De Paola, where I have been investigating genomic mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental alterations in Down syndrome, identifying underling gene regulatory networks, which revealed novel candidate therapeutic targets for Down syndrome. In parallel, I continued employing my genomics expertise to investigate the role of astrocytes in neurodegenerative disorders, including ALS (collaboration with Rickie Patani, Crick) and Alzheimer's disease.
In October 2025, I joined the lab of Paul Matthews at the UK-DRI at Imperial, to expand my research into the role of glial cells in Alzheimer's disease.