Biographies
Name: Professor Pat Kehoe
Role: Joint Head of Group/Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Director
Biography: Pat was one of the first graduates at University College Dublin, Ireland, to complete a new Joint Honours Degree programme in Genetics and Pharmacology before completing his PhD from the Department of Psychological Medicine in the former University of Wales College of Medicine (now part of Cardiff University) in 1998. After his PhD on the molecular genetics of Alzheimer’s disease and a period as an MRC-funded post-doctoral researcher working on some of the first sibling pair linkage studies of Alzheimer’s disease he took a career break to work as an NHS Research & Development Manager for the Avon and Wiltshire NHS Partnership Trust. In 2003 he returned to academia as the Gestetner Research Fellow to lead what was a much earlier incarnation of the current group where his research has focused the role of the Renin Angiotensin System in Alzheimer’s disease following his PhD studies based-seminal paper of genetic association between variation in the ACE-1 gene and Alzheimer’s disease risk. This included work spanning genetics, neuropathology, biochemistry and pharmacoepidemiology and culminated in an NIHR EME-funded Phase II randomized controlled trial on which he was Chief Investigator. He has jointly led the group since 2006 whilst serving in the last decade as Head of Section and Research Director for the Bristol Medical School, and more recently Faculty Research Director for the Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, playing a key role in the development of the new research strategy for the faculty formed in 2023.
Research interests: RAS in Dementia and other diseases; Genetics and Molecular Basis of Vascular Cognitive Impairment; The molecular interface between Alzheimer’s disease and cancer; drug repurposing; translational and multidisciplinary team research,
Links: ORCID: https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0002-7542-1139
PURE: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/patrick-gavin-kehoe
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-kehoe-29613b25/
X: @ProfPatKehoe
Name: Dr Scott Miners
Role: Joint Head of Group/ARUK Senior Fellow
Biography: Scott joined the Dementia Research Group in 2005 after completeing his PhD in Medical Biochemistry at the University of Cardiff. During his first post-doctoral position, Scott developed assays to measure the enzyme activities of Aβ-degrading enzymes in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This research led to him being awarded a Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) junior fellowship in 2013. During this time he was also heavily involved in work mapping changes in the classical renin-angiotensin system (RAS) within the brain in AD. In more recent years, his attention has turned to characterising changes in the protective regulatory arm of RAS and is now focussed on mapping cell-specific changes in RAS receptors within the brain in AD. In 2015 his research focus changed direction as he became interested in the role of cerebrovascular dysfunction in AD. Scott was instrumental in helping develop a novel panel of biochemical markers to assess cerebrovascular function in dementia. His work has led to numerous publications revealing novel insights into the pathophysiology of cerebrovascular changes in AD. In 2019 he was awarded an ARUK senior fellowship to study the timing and cause of pericyte degeneration and blood-brain barrier leakiness in AD. His fellowship has fostered collaborations with clinical colleagues and he has a growing interest in developing CSF and blood-based markers of cerebrovascular injury for early detection of AD. Scott has recently been funded to undertake a major study using sn-RNA Seq to map changes in gene expression within the cerebral vasculature in relation to disease pathology across brain regions affected at different stages of disease.
Research interests: Cerebrovascular disease; dementia; pericytes, blood-brain barrier; renin-angiotensin system
Links: ORCID: James Miners (0000-0001-8594-1640) - ORCID
PURE: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/j-s-miners
Email: scott.miners@bristol.ac.uk
Name: Dr Lindsey Sinclair
Role: Clinical Research Fellow
Biography: Lindsey is a clinical academic in old age psychiatry. After her medical training at the Royal Free Hospital, which included a BSc in Molecular Medicine she started her clinical training. She was lucky enough enough to work with Professor David Nutt in the Bristol Psychopharmacology unit during her core training in psychiatry. During her advanced training in Psychiatry she moved to working with Professor Ian Day and studying genetic influences on cognition, which formed the basis of her Wellcome Trust funded research training fellowship. After her PhD she combined completing her clinical training in both general adult & old age psychiatry with postdoctoral research. She was awarded a junior fellowship by the Alzheimer's Society in 2019, which allowed her to focus on the complex relationship between depression and dementia. In addition to her research work she works locally as a consultant in old age psychiatry.
Research interests: Neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia, depression. Alzheimer's disease
Skills: Human post-mortem brain tissue work, genetic analysis, ELISA, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, genetic epidemiology, RNA isolation and analyses including RNAseq and microarray, genotyping.
Name: Dr Robbie Fisher
Role: Alzheimer’s Society Research Fellow
Biography: Robbie received his PhD from the MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection (CMBI)—now the MRC Centre for Bacterial Resistance Biology (CBRB)—at Imperial College London in 2018. He held a research technician position at the TDRG from 2019–2023, when he began his current Alzheimer’s Society Research Fellowship characterizing novel pericyte markers and mapping the vascular expression of GWAS proteins for use in the research of vascular dysfunction in Alzheimer’s Disease.
Research interests: Pericyte biology, GWAS, Angiogenesis
Skills: Immunofluorescence, Confocal microscopy, Histological staining, Isolation of brain microvessels
Links: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbie-fisher-a21b7810b/
Name: Dr Dan Asby
Role: Senior Research Associate
Biography: Dan obtained his First-Class Honours degree in Biology in 2004 from Imperial College. He completed his PhD in Molecular and Developmental Biology in the lab of Prof. Neil Hanley at Southampton University in 2009 and held postdoctoral research associate positions in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manchester in 2010, and then in the School of Chemistry at Southampton University from 2011-2015. He joined the Functional Neurosurgery Group at Bristol University in 2015 before taking up a post in the Dementia Research Group in 2018.
Dan’s work since joining the group has primarily focused on characterizing various markers and pathways involved in the regulation of cerebral blood flow and blood-brain barrier integrity and how these are altered in different diseases that cause dementia. For example, working on an ARUK-funded project investigating the role of inflammation and systemic infection on cerebral hypoperfusion in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia and working on the UK DRI-led Multi-‘omics Atlas Project, where Dan has used biochemical techniques to quantify protein expression of markers of cerebral hypoperfusion, BBB integrity and pericyte content across multiple brain regions affected by disease pathology at different stages of the disease.
Research interests: Cerebrovascular changes in Alzheimer’s disease; blood-brain barrier breakdown in dementia; effects of hypoxia on brain-derived pericytes and endothelial cells.
Skills: Cell culture, ELISA, Flow cytometry, Western blotting, Hypoxia work, qPCR, Cell viability assays, Human post-mortem brain tissue work, Immunocytochemistry, DNA cloning.
Links: ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1219-8347
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-asby-88a1a2b2/
PURE: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/daniel-j-asby
Email: daniel.asby@bristol.ac.uk
ResearchGate: www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel_Asby
Name: Dr Rob MacLachlan
Role: Specialist Technician
Biography: Rob started working for the Translational Dementia Research Group (TDRG) in 2017 as a Research Technician investigating the effect of cerebral hypoperfusion in AD and vascular dementia. Upon completing this post, Rob secured an ARUK-funded PhD within the TDRG, characterising age- and disease-related changes to the renin-angiotensin system, which he completed in 2023. Rob now works as a specialist technician for the group, utilising RNAscope to map the cellular localisation of the renin-angiotensin system receptors and identify how their expression changes in AD.
Research interests: Renin-angiotensin system, Inflammation, Ageing
Skills: RNAscope, ELISA, Cell culture, FRET-based activity assays, Immunohistochemistry, Immunocytochemistry, Confocal microscopy, RNA extraction, qPCR
Links: ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5995-5854
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/robert-maclachlan-74601b103
PURE: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/rob-a-maclachlan
Email: rob.maclachlan@bristol.ac.uk
Name: Mr Oliver Milner
Role: PhD Student
Biography: Oliver graduated from the University of Warwick with a BSc in Psychology in 2020 before completing an MSc in Neuroscience specialising in Neurodegeneration at King’s College London in 2021. He conducted in-vitro drug screens at pharmaceutical CRO Horizon Discovery before joining the University of Bristol as a PhD candidate in October 2022. Oliver’s PhD aims to investigate the relationship between microglia and the blood-brain barrier, with a focus on how neuroinflammation contributes to cerebrovascular degeneration in dementia.
Research interests: Capillary-associated microglia; Neuroinflammation; Blood-brain barrier breakdown in dementia.
Skills: Cell Culture, Isolation of Human Primary Cells, ELISA, Immunohistochemistry, RNA Extraction
Links: ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4625-1484
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-milner-772024178/
PURE: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/oliver-milner
Email: oliver.milner@bristol.ac.uk
Name: Emre Tancan
Role: PhD student
Biography: Emre completed his undergraduate studies in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Istanbul University, Turkiye, in 2015. During his undergraduate studies, he participated in numerous internship programs. In 2014, he developed proficiency in various molecular biology techniques at the Sanyal Lab in the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Uppsala University, Sweden. In 2015, he focused on investigating mechanisms of cell death at the Gozuacik Lab in the Molecular Biology Department at Sabanci University, Turkiye. He subsequently earned a Master’s degree in Neuroscience from Istanbul Medipol University in 2018. His master’s thesis, supervised by Prof. Dr. Ertugrul Kilic, focused on examining the effects of the P2X7 receptor on brain electrical activity and cerebral blood flow. From 2018 to 2020, Emre served as a research assistant in the Physiology Department at Firat University, specializing in conducting animal behaviour experiments such as treadmill, O-maze, forced swim, and open field. In 2021, he commenced his PhD studies as a member of the Dementia Research Group, investigating the role of the regulatory renin-angiotensin system in synaptic function and vascular dementia.
Research interests: Renin-angiotensin system, neuronal transmission, synaptic plasticity, hippocampus.
Skills: Patch-Clamp electrophysiology, RNAscope, primary hippocampal and cortical neuronal culture, confocal microscopy, Western blotting, RNA extraction, qPCR, brain dissection, animal behaviour tests, IHC, ICC.
Links: ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0195-5637
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emre-tancan-083809a7/
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Emre_Tancan
Email: emre.tancan@bristol.ac.uk
Name: Mohamed A Abulfadl
Role: PhD student
Biography: Mohamed is a medical school graduate, since 2012. He worked as assistant lecturer in Medical Biochemistry and Molecular biology from 2015 to 2020. He got a qualified medical specialism in diagnostic imaging and clinical (chemical) pathology in 2019, following completion of clinical degree training examinations. He started a PhD program in 2020 at Bristol Medical school-UK, on a Newton-Mosharafa Award. His PhD focuses on the pathophysiology of brain Renin Angiotensin system (RAS) in neurodegenerative disorders through exploring the key regulatory enzymes of RAS, as apart of inclusive healthcare system. This includes study in both Alzheimer`s and Parkinson`s disease.
Research interests: Renin-angiotensin system, Inflammation, Ageing
Skills: Immunofluorescence, ELISA, Cell culture, FRET-based activity assays, Immunocytochemistry, Confocal microscopy, RNA extraction, qPCR, Doppler ultrasonography, X-ray, CT and MRI scan reporting.
Links: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mohamed-abulfadl-0aaa281b3
Email: ie20162@bristol.ac.uk
Name: Miss Selvi INCE
Role: PhD Student
Biography: Selvi received her Master’s by Research degree in Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience at the University of Reading in 2018. In 2020, Selvi joined the Dementia Research group as a PhD student to study the timing and causes of blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease. Selvi has examined the angiopoietin/tie signalling pathway that plays a key role in vascular stability and BBB permeability in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. She has developed a method to isolate highly pure microvessel enriched samples from human post-mortem brain tissue. Further, she is interested in angiopoietin-2 and soluble Tie-1 and Tie-2 receptors as potential biomarkers of BBB leakiness in AD and has examined the effect of hypoxic condition and/or Aβ application on angiopoietin/tie signalling pathway using a co-culture in vitro model of the BBB.
Research interests: Blood-brain barrier, Alzheimer’s disease, Angiogenesis, Biomarkers of BBB leakiness
Skills: Isolation of brain microvessels, Immunofluorescence staining, Histological staining, Confocal microscopy, Cell culture, Immunocytochemistry, Western blotting and PCR.
Links: Linkedln: linkedin.com/in/selvi-ince-a95929214
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2522-3660
Email: selvi.ince@bristol.ac.uk
Name: Gargi Roy
Role: Specialist Technician
Biography: Gargi completed her Master’s in Neuroscience from King’s College, London with a 2:1 and a specialisation in Neuroimaging. She holds a strong BSc. Triple majors background in Biotechnology, Chemistry and Zoology. She has joined the Dementia Research group as a Specialist Technician to study biomarkers of neurovascular injury and blood-brain barrier breakdown in dementia.
Research interests: pharmacotherapy for neurodegenerative disorders and psychosis, blood-brain barrier breakdown in dementia, pericyte-endothelial interactions in dementia
Skills: neuroimaging modalities (MRI, fMRI), mass spectrometry, immunohistochemistry, tissue culture, ELISA, confocal microscopy
Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gargiroy21/
Email: gargi.roy@bristol.ac.uk
Name: Daisy Mills
Role: Specialist Technician
Biography: Daisy graduated from the University of Manchester with a First Class degree in Neuroscience, her project researched modelling COL4A1 associated Cerebral Small Vessel Disease in Zebrafish. She has been working in the Cytology Laboratory in Southmead for the past year. Now joining the Dementia Research Group as a Specialist Technician her project is focussed on mapping changes in the cerebrovascular changes in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Research Interests: Blood-brain barrier breakdown and Cerebrovascular dysfunction in dementia, Neuroinflammation, biomarkers of disease.
Skills: working with Zebrafish Embroys, Site - directed mutagenesis, sequence analysis, Light-sheet microscopy.
Links: Email py23112@bristol.ac.uk
Name: Cherelle Davis
Role: PhD Student
Biography: Cherelle completed her undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Bristol in 2022 before carrying on her studies at Bristol with a Master’s in Molecular Neuroscience - finishing in 2023. She joined the Cerebrovascular & Dementia Research Group as a PhD student in 2024 studying how pro-angiogenic signalling contributes to the vascular disfunction observed in early Alzheimer's disease.
Research Interests: Angiogenesis, Alzheimer's disease, Vascular disfunction in Dementia.
Skills: Immunofluorescence Staining, Western Blotting, Cell Culture, PCR, Confocal Microscopy
Links: LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherelle-davis-21275026a/
Email- tz19275@bristol.ac.uk
Name: Peter Henley
Role: PhD Student
Biography: Peter graduated from the University of Exeter in 2022 with a BSc in Medical Sciences with a professional training year.
During his professional training year, he investigated gene expression changes in motor neurons from patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, as well as the crossover between these perturbed gene expression programs and expression changes as neurons age. For his final year project, Peter reviewed the use of electrical stimulation to treat pain in fibromyalgia, which also led to a spin off project highlighting the under representation of ethnic minorities in clinical trials for this condition.
Peter joined the ‘Dementia Research Group’ in 2023 as a PhD student investigating the genetics of non-cognitive symptoms in Alzheimer’s Disease. Specifically, his project first aims to identify subgroups of Alzheimer’s Disease patients based on non-cognitive symptom profiles using principal component analysis, clustering methods, and confirmatory factor analysis. Next, he will investigate the underlying genetic associations with these identified subgroups.
Peter’s PhD project is a collaboration with the ‘Dementia Research Institute’ and the ‘Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences’ departments at Cardiff University.
Research interests: Alzheimer’s Disease, non-cognitive symptoms in dementia’s, genetics, differential expression analysis, neurodegeneration, cell biology.
Skills: Using R, gene differential expression analysis, statistical analysis using linear and generalized linear regression models, genome wide association analysis/GWAS, data reduction and clustering methods to identify subgroups.
Links: Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4905-482X
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-henley-19b757174/
Email: peter.henley@bristol.ac.uk
Name: Ellie O'Sullivan
Role: Research Technician
Biography: Ellie graduated from her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from the University of Bristol in 2020. After working in virology within the NHS, she started as a Research Technician at South West Dementia Brain Bank in 2022. In 2024, she began her PhD studies in Translational Health, working with the Cerebrovascular & Dementia Research Group to study the underlying molecular mechanisms behind the inverse association between the risk of developing cancer and risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Research Interests: Alzheimer’s Disease, Cancer, molecular epidemiology, Bioinformatics, GWAS
Skills: Human post-mortem brain tissue work, immunohistochemistry, cell culture and data analysis in R.
Email: eo17170@bristol.ac.uk