Dr Natalie Courtney

Personal profile

• 2019 – present: Post-doctoral research fellow, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh

• 2015 – 2019: PhD in Integrative Physiology, University of Edinburgh

• 2014 – 2015: MSc by Research in Integrative Physiology, University of Edinburgh

• 2010 – 2014: BSc (Hons) in Anatomy, University of Glasgow

Research

My research interest is in the mechanisms that are involved in the degeneration of neurons that occurs in neurodegenerative diseases. Currently I am investigating presynaptic dysfunction, specifically in synaptic vesicle recycling, in Huntington’s Disease. Previously my research has looked to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in motor neuron degeneration in Spinal Muscular Atrophy, in addition to the compensatory mechanisms that occur in response to this degeneration.

Recent Publications

• Courtney NL, Mole AJ, Thomson AK, Murray LM (Cell Death and Disease, 2019) Reduced P53 levels ameliorate neuromuscular junction loss without affecting motor neuron pathology in a mouse model of spinal muscular atrophy.
• Deguise MO, Baranello G, Mastella C, Beauvais A, Michaud J, Leone A, De Amicis R, Battezzati A, Dunham C, Selby K, Warman Chardon J, McMillan HJ, Huang YT, Courtney NL, Mole AJ, Kubinski S, Claus P, Murray LM, Bowerman M, Gillingwater TH, Bertoli S, Parson SH, Kothary R (Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, 2019) Abnormal fatty acid metabolism is a core component of spinal muscular atrophy.
• Groen EJN, Perenthaler E, Courtney NL, Jordan CY, Shorrock HK, Van Der Hoorn D, Huang YT, Murray LM, Viero G, Gillingwater TH (Human Molecular Genetics, 2018) Temporal and tissue- specific variability of SMN protein levels in mouse models of spinal muscular atrophy.
• Murray LM, Beauvais A, Gibeault S, Courtney NL, Kothary R (Acta Neuropathologica Communications, 2015) Transcriptional profiling of differentially vulnerable motor neurons at a pre- symptomatic stage in the Smn^2B/- mouse model of spinal muscular atrophy.