Professor Heather Mortiboys
PhD
School of Medicine and Population Health
Head of Neuroscience
Professor of Cellular Neuroscience and Metabolism


+44 114 222 2259
Full contact details
School of Medicine and Population Health
Room B50
葫芦影业 Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN)
385a Glossop Road
葫芦影业
S10 2HQ
- Profile
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I was awarded my PhD from the International Max Planck PhD Program in Dresden Germany in 2006 with the grade summa cum laude; this project focused on the 鈥業nfluence of mitochondrial energy metabolism on cellular function: implications for neurometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases.鈥
After which I worked in the Neurology department at the University Hospital Dresden as a research associate on an EU funded project investigating Co-enzyme Q deficiency in patient tissue.
I joined the Neuroscience department at the University of 葫芦影业 in 2006 to set up mitochondrial investigations in models of Parkinson鈥檚 Disease working as a postdoctoral research associate with Prof. Oliver Bandmann.
I started my own lab when I became a Parkinson鈥檚 UK Senior Research Fellow in September 2013 based within the 葫芦影业 Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN).
- Research interests
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The main focus of my lab is mitochondria in neurodegenerative diseases, primarily focused on Parkinson鈥檚 Disease. This encompasses mitochondrial function, DNA, morphology and recycling as well as links with other cellular pathways.
My research focuses on both trying to further the understanding of the causes of mitochondrial problems in neurodegenerative conditions and in vitro drug screening for molecules which rescue mitochondrial function in patient tissue.
The lab has also recently become interested in investigating these mitochondrial abnormalities in Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease and Motor Neuron Disease patient derived cells. It is interesting to investigate the differing mitochondrial phenotypes between neurodegenerative diseases and the mechanisms by which they occur and potentially drive neuronal vulnerability.
Current projects
- Targeting mitochondrial dysfunction with novel small molecules in Parkinson鈥檚 Disease and Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease
- Repurposing of compounds for the treatment of Parkinson鈥檚 Disease
- LRRK2 and mitochondria 鈥 what is the connection?
- Differing types of mitophagy in neurons and astrocytes
- Targeting mitophagy with small molecules in Parkinson鈥檚 Disease
- Mitochondrial morphological abnormalities in patient derived models of Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease
- What are the metabolic abnormalities in Motor Neuron Disease
- Publications
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Journal articles
Chapters
Conference proceedings papers
Datasets
Preprints
- Research group
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Postdoctoral Research Associates
- Dr Francesco Capriglia
- Dr Naomi Hartopp
- Dr Alex Bury
- Dr Rachel Hughes
- Dr Katy Barnes
- Dr Orlaith O'Shaughnessy
- Dr Elezebeth Stephen
Research Assistants
- Nikolaos Stefanadis
- Ella Simmonite
PhD students
- James Lee
- Toby Burgess
- Louise Heywood
- Alicja Olejnik
- Rhiannon Brown
- Grants
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My research is currently funded by Parkinson鈥檚 UK Virtual Biotech, Cue Parkinson's, several industrial partners including Verge Genomics, NZP UK Ltd and Spark Therapeutics, and the Michael J Fox Foundation.
- Teaching activities
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I teach on the MSc courses in Translational Neuroscience, Translational Neuropathology, Clinical Neurology and Molecular Medicine focussing on protein assay work and basic cell biology assays, the pathogenetic mechanisms involved in Parkinson鈥檚 Disease and critical review of the literature teaching.
I also teach on the undergraduate Biomedical Science course on the module the Biological Basis of Brain Disease.
I enjoy training and supervising MSc and BMedSci students during their research projectsand usually host 2-3 students per year. In addition we host multiple medical students from the MBChB course for short projects per year.
- Professional activities and memberships
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I am a member of the Parkinson鈥檚 UK college of experts as well as the Patient Public Involvement Steering Group. I also sit on the Cure Parkinson鈥檚 Trust Review Panel.
I am lead external examiner for MRes courses at University of Newcastle. I regularly review for several funding bodies including MRC, Parkinson鈥檚 UK, BBSRC, Motor Neuron Disease Association, EU, ARUK and many others.
- Collaborators
Within 葫芦影业: Dr Laura Ferraiuolo, Prof Oliver Bandmann, Prof Kurt De Vos, Dr Suman De and Prof Val Gillet
Outside of 葫芦影业: Prof Sylvie Urbe (University of Liverpool), Prof Mike Clague (University of Liverpool), Dr Liz New (University of Sydney), Prof Joanna Poulton (University of Oxford), Dr Alex Whitworth (University of Cambridge)