Dervis Salih

Dervis Salih is a Senior Research Associate at the UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London. His research interests focus on understanding the mechanisms underlying genetic risk in Alzheimer’s disease and genetic variation associated with longevity. Dervis integrates data from GWAS with transcriptional networks, and mouse and cell models. He completed his PhD at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, investigating insulin-like growth factor signalling. Dervis then performed postdoctoral research at Stanford University in California, studying ageing pathways in the brain using behaviour and electrophysiology.

Melissa Barber

Melissa is a developmental neurobiologist interested in understanding how genetic and environmental risk factors contribute to Alzheimer's disease (AD), and in identifying interventions that may confer protection from the earliest stages of life. Does the in-utero environment and development of the brain alter AD risk in later life?                       

She is currently funded by the Alzheimer's Society to investigate how a novel genetic RELN-DAB1 pathway previously identified by the lab, interacts with APOE4 to modify Alzheimer’s disease risk. Together with Aleksej Kubelka, they are using iPSC co-culture models to elucidate the cellular mechanisms by which this novel pathway modulates neuroinflammation as well as potential novel therapeutic targets.

Outside of the lab, she enjoy hot-yoga, folk music and the occasional run!!

Umran Yaman

 Her research encompasses a variety of bioinformatics techniques, including analyses of short and long-read sequencing data, as well as the development of computational pipelines. In her Ph.D. project, Umran focused specifically on genome-wide long-read sequencing. This concentration aimed to uncover critical information regarding isoform usage and alternative splicing in a mouse model of Alzheimer's Disease, particularly during the early stages of amyloid pathology. In addition to her research, Umran has actively engaged in teaching computational biology at various levels for the past three years at UCL. Outside of the research, she enjoys reading and spending time in nature.

Naciye Magusali

Her research focuses on understanding the immune response to amyloid-beta pathology in Alzheimer’s disease brain. She is conducting her PhD project on the role of a new Alzheimer’s disease risk gene, OAS1, which is involved in interferon immune signalling. She is using iPSC-derived microglia, human AD brain tissue and transcriptomic approaches including RNA-sequencing to study the function of OAS1 and the immune cell interactions in Alzheimer's disease. She is also interested in the advances in personal medicine.

Krystel Fernandes

Krystel undertook her MRes project at the Salih lab in 2022 where she focused her work on the genetics of Alzheimer's disease (AD), investigating a putative AD risk gene in microglia. Prior to her time at the Salih lab, she graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology from the University of Manchester where she focused on the post-translational modifications of tau in Prof Nigel Hooper's lab. Her primary interests lie in AD research and she hopes to work in the early phases of drug discovery to identify diagnostic biomarkers or treatments for this debilitating disease. In her free time, you can find her baking sweet treats and cosied up with a book or a show (unless it's sunny out and she's at the beach!)

Manini Jain

Manini is an MSc Clinical Neuroscience student, interested in neuro-immune interactions in neurodegenerative disease. She is investigating protective microglial pathways in AD and ageing, particularly mediated by ANKH (a protective gene identified by the lab). By using a combination of cell culture and transcriptomics techniques, she is exploring the mechanism of action for ANKH, hopefully informing us of new therapeutic targets. She grew up in Switzerland and obtained her bachelor's at Imperial College London in Biological Sciences.  In her free time, Manini enjoys traveling, cooking, and chatting far too much. 

Aleksej Kubelka

Aleksej is a MSc Clinical Neuroscience student at UCL who is profoundly interested in the molecular pathology of AD. The aim of his research project in collaboration with Dr Melissa Barber at Dr Dervis Salih’s lab is to investigate the proteolytic processing of reelin and its relationship with tau pathology in AD. Deeper understanding of the Reelin-Disabled-1 (Dab1) signaling pathway in microglia may lead to the discovery of novel drug targets and provide us with valuable insight about the pathogenesis of the disease. Aleksej was born and raised in Skopje, Macedonia and moved to Amsterdam for his bachelor studies in Biomedical Sciences. In his free time, he enjoys to play football and visit friends who study in different cities in the UK.

Hannah Smith

Hannah became interested in neuroscience and genetics during her undergraduate degree at York, particularly in the molecular pathways underlying neurodegenerative diseases such as AD. My MSc project, in collaboration with Sao Bettencourt's lab at the Queen Square Brain Bank, aims to link environmental epigenetic factors and gene expression networks to understand new molecular mechanisms of action for Alzheimer's disease and human brain ageing.

Debbie Sheng

Debbie, an MSc Clinical Neuroscience student, is currently working on her dissertation project at Dr. Dervis Salih's lab at the Dementia Research Institute, in collaboration with Dr. Amanda Carr at the Institute of Ophthalmology.  Debbie is interested in applying methodologies from AD to explore the genetic links between Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and dementia. By employing GWAS, advanced bioinformatics, and potentially iPSC techniques, she aims to bridge insights from the fields of dementia and ophthalmology. The interdisciplinary project holds the promise of unveiling novel therapeutic targets and deepening the molecular understanding of these age-related conditions. Beyond her research, Debbie can often be found at BFI Southbank soaking up the arts and films, exploring the Natural History Museum and Barbican, enjoying live indie bands, scouring second-hand bookstores for hidden treasures, and collecting unique stones from nature.

Laura Li Yu

Laura's dissertation project for her BSc Biomedical Sciences was investigating the role and mechanism of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) driver gene - ISG15 in the interferon response using myeloid (HMC3) cells. Currently, she is using iPSC cells to further explore the mechanisms of the interferon response in the pathophysiology and also researching the role of oligodendrocytes in AD. She wants to contribute to a future where therapeutics for AD are widely available for everyone. Laura was born and raised in Spain and in her free time, you will find her dancing salsa or painting on her rooftop.

Ayan Asgarova

Ayan is a BSc Biochemistry student at UCL. She is investigating the role of senescence in Alzheimer's disease using a range of transcriptomic techniques such as network analysis using CoExpNets on murine datasets and identified various senescence-associated genes like CXCL16. Ayan is interested in applying her background in coding to elucidate the mechanisms of senescence in AD and contribute to a better future for dementia. Ayan is originally from Azerbaijan and grew up in London. In her free time, she enjoys reading Vogue and can't survive without a matcha coffee every day.