Laura Pearson

EDUCATION

College / University

University of Manchester

Highest Degree

Bachelor of Science

Major Subject

Neuroscience

Country

United Kingdom

Lab Experience

iPSC tissue culture, Immunocytochemistry, Western Blotting, Bacterial work, Protein Aggregation/Oligomerisation, Serial Fractionation, Handling of Post-mortem Human and Animal tissues, Flow Cytometry, Ionomycin Stimulation, IHC and Data Analysis using R studio, GraphPad Prism and FlowJo

Projects / Research

2023 – 2024: Investigating the role of γδ T-cells and interleukin-17 production on the meningeal immune response in mucopolysaccharidosis IIIA. Greenhalgh Laboratory of Neuroinflammation, University of Manchester.
2023: Exploring the role of recombinant VGF on cortical neuron development, maturation and calcium activity. Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford.
2022 – 2023: Investigating the role of granin neuropeptides on cellular resilience to Alzheimer’s Disease. Wade-Martins Laboratory of Molecular Neurodegeneration, University of Oxford.

Scholarships / Awards

2024 – 2025:	Stipend by the International Max Planck Research School
2024:	ARUK funding for travel to present research at the annual ARUK conference in Aberdeen

SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS AND GOALS

Since starting my neuroscience degree in 2020, my main interests have veered towards neuropathology and neuroinflammation, with a large focus on diseases of the brain and nervous system, such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis, as well as the surrounding areas, including diseases of the meninges. I am hugely interested in the development of iPSC culture techniques and how these can be used to study neuropathology. My main research goals involve combining the fields of immunology and neuropathology to study the ways in which inflammation and our immune system may be promoting neurodegeneration or other brain trauma, with particular interest in the role of glial cells in these neuroinflammatory processes.