Michael Duchen
Professor of Physiology, Cell & Developmental Biology, Div of Biosciences
Michael was born in South Africa, moving to the UK in 1960. He studied Physiology and Medicine in Oxford, 1971-75, then moved to St George’s Hospital Medical School to complete his clinical training, graduating 1978. he worked in clinical medicine in junior hospital appointments 1978-1981 including a period working at a rural hospital in the Transkei, South Africa. He moved to the UCL Department of Physiology to embark on PhD studies 1981 -1984 with Tim Biscoe as supervisor and mentor. He has stayed at UCL Physiology (now the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology) ever since, first as a Royal Society University Research Fellow, then as Reader and Professor. His early research was electrophysiological with an interest in neurotransmitter receptor biology, but he became interested first in the influence of cell metabolism on excitability and then increasingly fascinated by mitochondrial biology, in the dialogue between cell signalling pathways and mitochondria, in the roles of mitochondria in disease and ultimately in the question of whether mitochondrial pathways represent viable therapeutic targets in a variety of disease states.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Dr. Kritarth Singh
Kritarth received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in India. His thesis studies focussed on the role of NLRX1, a NLR family protein, in regulation of mitochondrial metabolism and TNF-induced cell death. During his PhD, he worked with Department of Pharmacology in design/synthesis of nano-conjugates and its application to mice model of glioblastoma. He also worked at the Seoul National University, South Korea, exploring the quantitative mitochondrial proteome of breast cancer cells. He has recently joined as postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Michael Duchen (PI) at the University College London and Prof. Heinz Jungbluth and Dr Manolis Fanto (Project collaborators) at the King’s College London. His research focuses on understanding the crosstalk between mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired autophagy pathway in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disorders. Besides reading the scientific literature, KS enjoys playing cricket and ping pong, rock climbing and road running.
DR. Preethi Sheshadri
Preethi has a post graduate degree in Microbiology from Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), and a PhD in Stem Cell Biology from School of Regenerative Medicine (SORM), Manipal University, India, where she studied the effects of mitochondrial Manganese Superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) in Embryonic Stem cells under the guidance of Dr. Anujith Kumar. Post-PhD, she set out to follow her research interests in studying mitochondria in neurodegenerative diseases. During her short stint as a post-doctoral researcher from 2017-2019 in Dr. Qian Cai’s lab in Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA, she studied Axonal mitophagy in Alzheimer’s disease in primary Cortical Neuron Cultures and Brain slices using J20 and Tauopathy animal models. In the Duchen Lab, Preethi studies the effects of GBA1 mutations on Parkinson’s Disease, using human patient derived iPSCs as a model system. She, along with Alessia Fisher, specifically focus on mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired autophagic pathways. A trained Carnatic musician, when not in lab, you will find Preethi singing, watching movies, following sports, reading, crocheting or doing more than one of these at a time
DR. Olivia Gillham
During her Neuroscience BSc (with IE) at the University of Manchester, Olivia discovered an interest in the cellular basis of human neurological disease, while investigating the role of neuroinflammation in stroke with Professor Stuart Allan. During her undergraduate, Olivia also undertook an industrial internship in Germany at the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. Olivia then moved to UCL for her PhD with Professor Patrizia Ferretti, where she focussed on modelling human neurodevelopmental pathologies in vitro, with a focus on Down Syndrome. For this, Olivia generated human iPSC lines and used 2- and 3-dimensional human neural cultures (iPS-derived & primary) to investigate the role of neural progenitor cells in Down syndrome corticogenesis. In the Duchen lab, Olivia is now investigating Down syndrome-associated Alzheimer’s disease using iPSC-derived neurons and astrocytes. When not in the lab, Olivia is a competitive ballroom dancer and also loves climbing, yoga, exploring the countryside, and going to the gym.
Research Technician
Ioanna Kourouzidou
Originally from Cyprus, Ioanna completed her BSc in Biochemistry at the University of Sheffield and then moved to London to study Neuroscience at King’s College London. For her master’s thesis she joined the Thuret Lab to investigate the effect of testosterone on human hippocampal progenitor cells. Having developed a strong interest in stem cells, she then joined Dr Davide Danovi’s group at the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, KCL, to complete a 5-month research internship involving cell culture and high-content imaging. She has now joined the Duchen Lab, as a research technician, to work on mitochondrial dysfunction in Down Syndrome associated Alzheimer’s Disease. When not feeding cells, you can most probably find her at the local movie theatre or attempting to lift weights at the gym.
Alessia Fisher
My name is Alessia, and I am an MSc Neuroscience graduate from King’s College London. For my master’s thesis I joined the Vernon lab to investigate the effect of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome on the uptake of cargo by human iPSC-derived patient microglia cells. I have now joined the Duchen lab, as a lab technician, contributing to the research investigating the impact of GBA1 mutations on mitochondrial and lysosomal function in patient-derived fibroblasts and iPSCs, alongside Preethi Sheshadri and Alicia Costa.
PhD Students
Haoyu Chi, MSci
Haoyu started to attend college in London in 2015 and has just graduated from Msci Human Genetics degree from UCL, during his studying he developed an interest in neurodegenerative diseases, aging, and molecular biology. He just started his PhD project “Exploring pathways to metabolic dysfunction in Down syndrome-associated Alzheimer’s disease”, supervised by Prof. Michael Duchen. His activity out of the lab is mainly doing sports, American pool, badminton, basketball, and tennis.
Gabriel Valdebenito, MSc
Gabriel earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physiotherapy at Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción. He also studied Human Physiology at University of Chile dedicating his time to developing a mouse model of gestational obesity for understanding the effects of a maternal high fat diet on fetal primary muscle cells. He moved to the UK to start his PhD under Michael Duchen’s supervision. Gabriel is interested in how MELAS disease could affect the function of iPSC-derived myotubes and is searching for a mechanism to restore its alterations. Out of the lab, he loves watching tennis, The Big Bang Theory and Harry Potter.
Anitta Rose Chacko, MRes
Anitta received her BSc Hons in Biomedical Science and went on to complete her MRes in Translational Medicine from the University of Liverpool. Her undergraduate project was focussed on investigating the potential cytotoxic effects of electronic cigarettes in A549 lung cells. During her MRes, Anitta worked on generating and characterising a novel luciferase system-based reporter gene vector for stem cell tracking. Her MRes project also involved assessing the efficacy of non-invasive imaging techniques for tracking a potential stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease. Anitta is currently a PhD student in the Duchen lab, collaborating with Nanna Therapeutics to investigate potential treatment strategies for Primary Mitochondrial disease with the utilisation of iPSC-derived models. Outside of the lab, she is a STEM ambassador and enjoys her time reading, exploring and travelling.
Giacomo Stanzani, DVM
Following graduation in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Bologna, Italy, Giacomo moved to the Royal Veterinary College, London, where he obtained a Master degree and completed a clinical residency in veterinary emergency and critical care. After a period working as a clinician at the University of Edinburgh veterinary teaching hospital, Giacomo started a PhD in experimental and personalised medicine with UCL. Giacomo is interested in understanding the mechanisms of organ dysfunction in critical illness, and specifically in sepsis, to identify possible novel therapeutic targets. His current research examines the role of mitochondria in sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction
Robert Tidswell, Dr
Rob is working across Professor Duchen’s lab and Professor Singer’s Bloomsbury Institute for Intensive Care Medicine as an MRC clinical research training fellow. He is normally an intensive care medicine doctor but is taking time out to complete a PhD investigating the role thermogenic mechanisms in sepsis – specifically looking at the generation of fever and how that may improve outcomes in patients. Outside the lab he is an expert foodie, amateur tennis player, and likes walking around galleries.
Masters and Undergraduate students
Vdag Tatarian
Vdag is a Biomedical Sciences graduate from the University of Southampton, currently studying MSc Genetics of Human Disease at UCL. His undergraduate project focused on Phylogenetic and Chromosomal Divergence Analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces paradoxus. After completing his undergraduate degree, Vdag joined a Covid-19 Laboratory in the NHS which was part of the Hampshire and IOW Saliva Mass Testing Programme. He is currently investigating the effects of autophagy activators in improving mitochondrial function in cellular models of Vici Syndrome as part of his MSc project. Out of the lab he is a massive football and F1 fan
Atiye Sirin
Atiye is originally from Turkey. She received her bachelor’s degree in Genetics at the University of Glasgow. She is currently doing her Master’s at University College London. During Covid-19 Pandemic, she volunteered Turkey’s National Vaccine Development Project as a lab assistant in Selcuk University. Her team studied creating the most up-to date mRNA sequence of the Covid-19 Vaccine. As her honors project in the final year, she joined Professor Julia Cordero’s team at Cancer Research UK in Beatson Institute and focused on generating tumorigenesis in different gut tissues in Drosophila Melanogaster and monitoring these effects on sleeping behavior in the organism. In her Master’s project, she joined Dr Michael Duchen’s Lab. She is studying the role of Ca+ channel, MCU (Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter Complex in Mitochondria) in MELAS diesase.
Chiara Zambianchi
Chiara graduated from MSci Cell Biology at UCL in 2022. During this time, she developed an interest in computational biology and the use of this methodology to unravel the molecular and genetic mechanisms behind cellular phenotypes of neurodegenerative diseases. For her MSci project, she joined the Lloyd’s lab at the LMCB to study the epigenetic marks on the promoter of myelin genes in myelinating Schwann Cells in different cellular states. She is currently interning at the Duchen lab, under the supervision of Dr. Preethi Sheshadri. Her work employs computational methods to analyse RNA-seq and proteomic data. The objective is to understand the impact of GBA1 mutations on mitochondrial dysfunctions and Parkinson’s disease. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading fiction books, practising yoga, and exploring London.
Alim Devecioglu
I am a student from Switzerland currently moving into my final year of a BSc Biochemistry at UCL. I’ve joined the Duchen Lab as a summer student where I’ll be working on a project to test the effect of a mitophagy activator on mutant mtDNA load in patient-derived cells, under the supervision of Gabriel Valdebenito and Anitta Chacko. In my free time I enjoy running (unsuccessfully), cooking, playing the piano and doing embroidery.
Adam Shellard
Alumni
Joycelyn Tan
Joe Phillips
SHADMAN KHAN
Sachin Goyal
María Gonzalez-Gancedo
Eleanor Cooley
Nancy Liang
Szilvia Kiraly
Dr. Gauri Bhosale
Thomas Blacker
Lucía Lage
Akash Roy
Jess Holmes
Mona Alawadhi
Cagla Kaya
Dr Alicia Costa
