Monique Hooley

I am investigating whether normal astrocytic functions are altered in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

Contact type
Person
First name
Monique
Surname
Hooley
Role
PhD Student - Hardingham & Spires-Jones Labs
Organisation 1
1 George Square
Organisation 2
Edinburgh
Organisation 3
EH8 9XD
Email
Monique.hooley@ed.ac.uk

Personal profile

  • Wellcome Trust 4 Year Translational Neuroscience PhD student (2016-present)
  • Pharmacology Msci, University of Bristol (2012-2016)
  • Industrial placement at Pfizer (2014-2015)

Research

Astrocytes are the most abundant cell type in the brain. They are involved in a number of functions, including providing nutrients to nervous tissue and regulating extracellular ion balance. I am investigating whether normal astrocytic functions are altered in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). I am utilising in vitro and in vivo models of AD to conduct unbiased searches for alterations in astrocytic gene expression in the context of synapse loss. I will compare these results to those found in human AD cases to assess the suitability of these models.  

Figure 1. Primary mouse astrocyte DIV14. Glutamate transporters EAAT1 (green) and EAAT2 (red).

 

Figure 2. Hippocampal tissue from a mouse model of AD. Showing presynaptic protein synaptophysin (green) apposing postsynaptic P