
Dr Oscar Cordero Llana
B.Sc.(Oviedo), M.Sc.(Bristol), PhD
Expertise
Current positions
Associate Professor in Stem Cell Biology
Bristol Medical School (THS)
Contact
Press and media
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Biography
Research interests
Dr Cordero-Llana’s research focuses on the processes underlying brain degeneration and the strategies of brain regeneration and repair. He is also a glia champion and determined to reduce the neuronal bias in neuroscience.
Dr Cordero-Llana graduated in Biochemistry from the University of Oviedo (Spain) in 2005. He then became a Fundesfor Scholar (a European Foundation for the Training and Development in Coal Mining Areas) which allowed him to move to the UK and obtain an MSc in Molecular Neuroscience at the University of Bristol in 2007. His research career started in the Stem Cells and Neuro-regeneration group working with human and rodent stem cells under the supervision of Prof Maeve Caldwell. He was then awarded a University of Bristol Scholarship to undertake a PhD investigating novel neurotrophic factors in neural stem cells and their application in neurodegenerative conditions. This work led to his first major funding - an Innovation Grant from Parkinson’s UK - to evaluate the efficacy of a new family of neurotrophic factors in preclinical models of Parkinson’s. In 2013, Dr Cordero-Llana joined the Molecular Neurodegeneration Group at the University of Oxford, where he worked towards the generation of novel animal models for the study of the molecular mechanisms that lead to motor neuron death in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). In 2015 Dr Cordero-Llana returned to Bristol to set up his own research group and lecture in Stem Cell Biology as Co-Director of the MSc in Stem Cells and Regeneration. Dr Cordero-Llana has been Postgraduate Research Director since 2020 and Associate Professor in Stem Cell Biology since 2023 in the department of Translational Health Sciences at the Bristol Medical School
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
BBSRC ALERT 21 LCM-MM: Bringing Laser Capture Microscopy Technology to the University of Bristol
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (THS)Dates
01/03/2022 to 28/02/2023
BBSRC ALERT 21 LCM-MM: Bringing Laser Capture Microscopy Technology to the University of Bristol
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (THS)Dates
01/03/2022 to 28/02/2023
Thesis supervisions
Publications
Selected publications
18/09/2023The miRNA transcriptome of cerebrospinal fluid in preterm infants reveals the signaling pathways that promote reactive gliosis following cerebral hemorrhage
Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience
AZD5438 a GSK-3a/b and CDK inhibitor is antiapoptotic modulates mitochondrial activity and protects human neurons from mitochondrial toxins
Scientific Reports
Distinct regulation of hippocampal neuroplasticity and ciliary genes by corticosteroid receptors
Nature Communications
Abnormal scaffold attachment factor 1 expression and localisation in spinocerebellar ataxias and huntington’s chorea
Brain Pathology
shRNA-mediated PPARα knockdown in human glioma stem cells reduces in vitro proliferation and inhibits orthotopic xenograft tumour growth
Journal of Pathology
Recent publications
23/05/2023AZD5438 a GSK-3a/b and CDK inhibitor is antiapoptotic modulates mitochondrial activity and protects human neurons from mitochondrial toxins
Scientific Reports
The miRNA transcriptome of cerebrospinal fluid in preterm infants reveals the signaling pathways that promote reactive gliosis following cerebral hemorrhage
Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience
A GSK3α/β and CDKs inhibitor improves mitochondrial function in human neurons
CSF exosomal miRNAs impact on neural stem cell differentiation contributing to a premature neuro-glial switch following haemorrhage in the developing brain
MicroRNA profiling of cerebrospinal fluid from preterm infants following perinatal brain injury
Thesis
Tales of Neurotrophism
Supervisors
Award date
14/05/2013
Teaching
Oscar receives outstanding feedback on his teaching and has introduced a wide range of authentic assessments and tasks (including a Wiki group tasks, research proposals, lay summaries, visual abstracts, value propositions, communication portfolios, business canvas and poster presentations). He has made a major contribution to developing and delivering Interactive tasks around marking criteria which led to a publication around Enhancing the Assessment Literacy of Distance Learning Students; interactive workshops around Experimental Design and Animal Research across three programmes; well-attended seminars involving people with Parkinson’s for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Oscar is personal tutor for students across the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences providing holistic pastoral and academic support. Over the years, Oscar has received several nominations for the Bristol Teaching awards including outstanding personal tutor, inspiring and innovative teaching award.