Biography
I graduated with BSc (Hons) in Physiology from University of Aberdeen (Scotland) in 2011. During my undergraduate studies I was involved in couple of research projects that looked into function of vitamin A in pituitary and hypothalamus.
I obtained a PhD in Translational Neuroscience, also from University of Aberdeen (2016). My research thesis was on the “Function of prefrontal GABAergic interneurons in behaviour – a relevance to schizophrenia.”
In 2016 I moved on to a postdoc position at the National Institute on Aging (Baltimore, USA), where I joined the Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience (LBN) and the Neurocognitive Aging Section. During my time at NIA, I focused on studying the roles of retinoic acid signalling in a rodent model of neurocognitive aging.
While in USA, I followed my passion of teaching and became an Adjunct Lecturer at a local Coppin State University, where I taught Biology.
I joined Keele as a Lecturer in Neuroscience in February 2021.
Research and scholarship
Although I currently do not have my own lab or do any research I still keep up with the news, especially related to my interests.
During my PhD studies I focused on examining the role of prefrontal GABAergic interneurons in physiology and behaviour and utilised a variety of techniques, including in vivo electrophysiology, animal behaviour and immunohistochemistry. I am still interested in how interneurons in different brain regions contribute to neuronal firing and the excitation/inhibition balance.
During my postdoc days I focused on studying the roles of retinoic acid signalling in a rodent model of neurocognitive aging. I performed an in-depth analysis of downstream retinoic acid signaling pathway in hippocampus. Further work will hopefully reveal whether this system can be exogenously manipulated to alleviate memory impairments in aged animals. I am interested in role of retinoic acid in memory and its function in translation rather than transcription.
Publications
School address
School of Life Sciences
Huxley Building
Keele University
Staffordshire
ST5 5BG
Tel: +44 (0) 1782 734414
Email: lifesciences.office@keele.ac.uk
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