Development of cellular models of hypothalamic disorders
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit
Abstract
Obesity affects over 10 million adults in the UK and is arguably the greatest challenge facing our health care system. Efforts to treat obesity are hampered by the fact that the biological causes of obesity are still poorly understood. Body weight is regulated by a complex network of signals and cell types. A particularly important role is played by specific cell types in the brain that regulate food intake and energy expenditure. It has been known for decades that lesions in a region of the brain known as the hypothalamus can cause extreme obesity or anorexia. More recently, elegant studies in animal models have identified the cell types responsible for feeding behaviour. One of these cell types produces signals known as neuropeptide Y (NPY) and agouti-related peptide (AgRP). These so-called NPY/AgRP neurones so potently stimulate feeding that if they are experimentally killed off in adult mice, the mice completely stop eating. On the other hand, if NPY/AgRP neurones are artificially activated, mice will immediately start eating voraciously.
Animal models suggest that in models of obesity caused by a high-fat "Western diet", NPY/AgRP stop responding to the appropriate signals and become abnormally active, thus leading to more food intake and stabilising the state of obesity. It is unclear to what extent human NPY/AgRP are involved in common forms of human obesity. If the pathways that cause these cells to behave abnormally were known, it might possible to correct the abnormalities with targeted drug therapy and generate new therapies for obesity.
Since cells in the human brain are inaccessible, it has been very difficult to study human NPY/AgRP neurons. I recently developed a method to generate human NPY/AgRP neurons from pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells can be generated by "reprogramming" adult stem cells such as skin cells back to a naïve state where they can be directed to produce virtually any other cell type in the body. The ability to generate human NPY/AgRP neurons thus opens up a wide array of new approaches to better understand the cause of obesity.
As a New Blood MRC fellow, I will study how much NPY and AgRP these neurons release in response to external signals. NPY and AgRP activate other cells to promote feeding, so measuring the release of neuropeptides is a powerful way to understand how they might regulate feeding. In particular, I will study how mutations in genes that have been linked to obesity might affect NPY and AgRP release. These studies will provide an important link between mouse studies and human cells, and may reveal why some people are more prone to obesity than others. A long-term goal of this work is to understand the biological root causes of obesity in order to develop better therapies. I am honoured to be working toward this goal with the support of the MRC.
Animal models suggest that in models of obesity caused by a high-fat "Western diet", NPY/AgRP stop responding to the appropriate signals and become abnormally active, thus leading to more food intake and stabilising the state of obesity. It is unclear to what extent human NPY/AgRP are involved in common forms of human obesity. If the pathways that cause these cells to behave abnormally were known, it might possible to correct the abnormalities with targeted drug therapy and generate new therapies for obesity.
Since cells in the human brain are inaccessible, it has been very difficult to study human NPY/AgRP neurons. I recently developed a method to generate human NPY/AgRP neurons from pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells can be generated by "reprogramming" adult stem cells such as skin cells back to a naïve state where they can be directed to produce virtually any other cell type in the body. The ability to generate human NPY/AgRP neurons thus opens up a wide array of new approaches to better understand the cause of obesity.
As a New Blood MRC fellow, I will study how much NPY and AgRP these neurons release in response to external signals. NPY and AgRP activate other cells to promote feeding, so measuring the release of neuropeptides is a powerful way to understand how they might regulate feeding. In particular, I will study how mutations in genes that have been linked to obesity might affect NPY and AgRP release. These studies will provide an important link between mouse studies and human cells, and may reveal why some people are more prone to obesity than others. A long-term goal of this work is to understand the biological root causes of obesity in order to develop better therapies. I am honoured to be working toward this goal with the support of the MRC.
Technical Summary
Obesity affects over 10 million adults in the UK and is arguably the greatest challenge facing our health care system. Efforts to treat obesity are hampered by the fact that the mechanisms causing obesity are still poorly understood. A large body of evidence ranging from animal lesion and genetic studies to monogenic and GWAS studies have identified as obesity as largely a disease of the brain. In particular, neurones in the hypothalamus are central regulators of feeding behaviour whose loss or dysfunction is sufficient to cause severe obesity. I have developed a method to generate human hypothalamic neurones from pluripotent stem cells. Human stem cell-derived hypothalamic neurones share cardinal features of their counterparts in the brain. Furthermore, I used the CRISPR/Cas9 system to modify the genomes of human stem cells to generate knock-in reporters for cell types of interest.
One cell type of particular interest is the hypothalamic neurone that produces neuropeptide Y (NPY) and agouti-related peptide (AgRP). These NPY/AgRP neurones so potently stimulate feeding that their ablation in the adult brain leads to a cessation of feeding to the point of starvation, and their specific activation via pharmacogenetic or optogenetic methods stimulates immediate and voracious feeding.
As a New Blood MRC fellow, I will develop human stem cell-derived NPY/AgRP neurones into a tractable system for studying obesity. In particular, the secretion of NPY and AgRP peptides from these cells is detectable by ELISA. I will test the hypothesis that candidate obesity-associated mutations in genes that are highly enriched in NPY/AgRP neurones alter neuropeptide release. Since AgRP is a melanocortin peptide that directly inhibits the MC4R receptor found on feeding-inhibitory second order neurones, this phenotype would have a clear mechanistic link to obesity.
One cell type of particular interest is the hypothalamic neurone that produces neuropeptide Y (NPY) and agouti-related peptide (AgRP). These NPY/AgRP neurones so potently stimulate feeding that their ablation in the adult brain leads to a cessation of feeding to the point of starvation, and their specific activation via pharmacogenetic or optogenetic methods stimulates immediate and voracious feeding.
As a New Blood MRC fellow, I will develop human stem cell-derived NPY/AgRP neurones into a tractable system for studying obesity. In particular, the secretion of NPY and AgRP peptides from these cells is detectable by ELISA. I will test the hypothesis that candidate obesity-associated mutations in genes that are highly enriched in NPY/AgRP neurones alter neuropeptide release. Since AgRP is a melanocortin peptide that directly inhibits the MC4R receptor found on feeding-inhibitory second order neurones, this phenotype would have a clear mechanistic link to obesity.
Organisations
- University of Cambridge (Fellow, Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Manchester (Collaboration)
- University of Valencia (Collaboration)
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (Collaboration)
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (Collaboration)
- Genentech, Inc (Collaboration)
- Altos Labs (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
Florian Merkle (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Razolli DS
(2020)
Proopiomelanocortin Processing in the Hypothalamus Is Directly Regulated by Saturated Fat: Implications for the Development of Obesity.
in Neuroendocrinology
Santos DP
(2016)
Comprehensive Protocols for CRISPR/Cas9-based Gene Editing in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells.
in Current protocols in stem cell biology
Saucisse N
(2020)
POMC neurons functional heterogeneity relies on mTORC1 signaling
Saucisse N
(2021)
Functional heterogeneity of POMC neurons relies on mTORC1 signaling
in Cell Reports
Saucisse N
(2021)
Functional heterogeneity of POMC neurons relies on mTORC1 signaling.
Sonoyama T
(2020)
Human BDNF/TrkB variants impair hippocampal synaptogenesis and associate with neurobehavioural abnormalities.
in Scientific reports
Description | Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard award |
Amount | £100,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | SBF001\1016 |
Organisation | Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2015 |
End | 08/2018 |
Description | Cellular mechanisms of metabolic sensing by human hypothalamic neurons (Sir Henry Dale Fellowship) |
Amount | £1,212,840 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 211221/Z/18/Z |
Organisation | Wellcome Trust |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2018 |
End | 08/2023 |
Description | Community building for neurodegenerative disease research |
Amount | $6,000 (USD) |
Organisation | Silicon Valley Community Foundation |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United States |
Start | 09/2019 |
End | 04/2021 |
Description | Hot Topics in Neurodegeneration |
Amount | $6,000 (USD) |
Funding ID | 2021-236086(5022) |
Organisation | Silicon Valley Community Foundation |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United States |
Start | 07/2021 |
End | 04/2023 |
Description | Integrated Analysis of Genetic and Epigenomic Variation in hiPSC-derived Neurons and Glial Cells at Single Cell Resolution |
Amount | £1,000,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | OTAR0039 |
Organisation | The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute |
Department | Open Targets |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2017 |
End | 03/2020 |
Description | NYSCF - Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Award |
Amount | $1,500,000 (USD) |
Funding ID | NYSCF-R-156 |
Organisation | New York Stem Cell Foundation |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United States |
Start | 01/2020 |
End | 12/2024 |
Description | NeuroID - An experimental platform for functional and transcriptomic analysis of neurodegenerative disease genes |
Amount | £1,000,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2020 |
End | 04/2024 |
Description | Study of gene-environment interactions in ALS |
Amount | $50,000 (USD) |
Funding ID | 2021-239104(5022) |
Organisation | Silicon Valley Community Foundation |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United States |
Start | 12/2021 |
End | 11/2023 |
Description | Targeting shared mechanisms in metabolic and neurodegenerative disease (Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Award) |
Amount | $2,500,000 (USD) |
Funding ID | 191942 |
Organisation | Chan Zuckerberg Initiative |
Sector | Private |
Country | United States |
Start | 01/2019 |
End | 12/2023 |
Description | The Pluripotent Stem Cells and Engineered Cell (PSEC) Hub |
Amount | £4,095,179 (GBP) |
Funding ID | MR/R015724/1 |
Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2018 |
End | 05/2024 |
Title | Differentiation of hPSCs to hypothalamic neurons |
Description | This protocol is the latest and greatest version of our methods to differentiate pluripotent stem cells into hypothalamic neurons for disease modelling. It replaces a previous protocol we published in 2017. |
Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Many groups are now using our methods to derive hypothalamic neurons in vitro. The original publication has over 100 citations, and this open-access protocol improves performance and is availble to everyone. |
URL | https://www.protocols.io/view/differentiation-of-hpscs-to-hypothalamic-neurons-bzghp3t6 |
Title | KOLF2.1J: A reference human induced pluripotent stem cell line |
Description | Using deep genotyping and phenotyping, we worked collaboratively to compare 8 candidate iPSC lines and select one to serve as a reference cell line for the field. A pre-print describing this cell line has been published, and we are working to easily share the cell line and accompanying whole genome sequencing data via a website that is scheduled to launch in March 2022. |
Type Of Material | Cell line |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The cell line has been shared with over 200 laboratories, and is forming the basis of several large gene editing studies at the NIH, Jackson Laboratories, and the Wellcome Sanger Institute. |
URL | https://www.jax.org/jax-mice-and-services/ipsc |
Title | Live Cell Quantification using Image Analysis. |
Description | We developed pipelines to enable the rapid quantification of cells based on staining by a live-cell non-toxic membrane dye. For applications where there are many conditions in which cells need to be quantified, this approach significantly reduces labor and increases speed, while delivering comparable performance. |
Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | This method allows us to perform a head-to-head comparison of dozens of media conditions in a single experiment, yielding valuable insights into which media conditions best promote genomic stability of stem cells. |
URL | https://www.protocols.io/view/live-cell-quantification-using-image-analysis-bzgep3te |
Title | POMC-GFP reporter stem cell line |
Description | This cell line is a genetic knock-in of GFP at the human POMC locus in an embryonic stem cell line. When differentiated to hypothalamic neurons, it accurately reports on the production of POMC neurons. It was developed in collaboration with Chad Cowan at Harvard University. We are preparing a joint publication describing the work. |
Type Of Material | Cell line |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | We have been able to flow purify and study the transcriptome of human POMC neurons for the first time. |
Title | quantitative mass spectoscopy for analysing neuropeptide production |
Description | We used liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS) to develop quantitative methods to analyse neuropeptide production in cultured human cells and in primary human brain samples. This consists of both standard curved made with sythetic human peptides, and synthetic peptides generated to incorporate stable heavy isotopes, which are spiked into samples during preparation. This enables very accurate and sensitive quantification of peptides, and assessment of relative quantities of different peptides of interests. |
Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - in vitro |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | This method enabled us to examine the relative production of POMC-derived peptides in both human cellular culture and in the primary brain. We found that alpha-MSH, which is the predominant MSH form studied, is produced at most lower levels than desacetyl alpha-MSH. Furthermore, we confirmed that beta-MSH, whose existence has been controversial, is indeed produced both in vivo and in vitro at similar quantities as desacetyl alpha-MSH. |
Title | Whole-genome sequences of 143 human embryonic stem cell lines that enable rational line selection based on genetic variation |
Description | Despite their widespread use in research, there has not yet been a systematic genomic analysis of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines at a single-nucleotide resolution. We therefore performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 143 hESC lines and annotated their single-nucleotide and structural genetic variants. We found that while a substantial fraction of hESC lines contained large deleterious structural variants, finer-scale structural and single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) that are ascertainable only through WGS analyses were present in hESC genomes and human blood-derived genomes at similar frequencies. Moreover, WGS allowed us to identify SNVs associated with cancer and other diseases that could alter cellular phenotypes and compromise the safety of hESC-derived cellular products transplanted into humans. As a resource to enable reproducible hESC research and safer translation, we provide a user-friendly WGS data portal and a data-driven scheme for cell line maintenance and selection. The dataset on DUOS is: DUOS-000121 |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | These data have enabled researchers to avoid cell lines that carry genetic abnormalities that would make certain lines less suitable for use, and select those that are best suited based on their genetic characteristics. |
URL | https://duos.broadinstitute.org/ |
Title | database of neuropeptides in the human brain and in human stem cell-derived neurons |
Description | We performed mass spectrometry on both human stem cell-derived hypothalamic neurons and on primary human brain samples. The resulting datasets, which are the first description of the peptides of the human hypothalamus, are freely available to the public via the ProteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository with the dataset identifier PXD008795 and 10.6019/PXD008795 (http://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org). |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | These data describe the sequence and relative abundance of human hypothalamic peptides, and revealed that beta-MSH is likely an important peptide for human appetite regulation. |
URL | http://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org |
Description | Computational biology - Marioni |
Organisation | Genentech, Inc |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We provide in vitro and mouse model systems and data |
Collaborator Contribution | Our collaborators provide computational expertise and analysis of our data |
Impact | We have published one manuscript and are working on two others. Disciplines: stem cell biology, neuroscience, animal physiology, computational biology |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Electron microscopy |
Organisation | University of Valencia |
Country | Spain |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | I have worked with the laboratory of Jose Manuel Garcia-Verdugo to analyse human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived hypothalamic neurons by electron microscopy. We provided the fixed material, antibodies, and assisted with data interpretation. |
Collaborator Contribution | The Garcia-Verdugo laboratory performed embedding and immunogold EM to probe for the subcellular localisation of POMC and POMC-derived peptides, confirming their vesicular localisation. |
Impact | One manuscript associated with this work has been published in Molecular Metabolism (DOI 10.1016/j.molmet.2018.08.006) |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Open Targets - NeuroID CRISPR screens |
Organisation | The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | We are assisting with the generation of cellular assays, neuronal differentiation, and biological interpretation of resulting data. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our collaborators are proving expertise in CRISPR gene editing and bioinformatics. |
Impact | one manuscript is in the early stages of preparation. We developed methods of making induced astrocyes from hPSCs, and in characterising these found that LRP1 is a receptor for monomeric tau uptake in astrocytes, much as it is in neurons. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Open Targets - pooled dopaminergic sequencing |
Organisation | The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Our laboratory helped identify differentiation protocols to use in the collaborative study to examine how over 200 human induced pluripotent stem cell lines differ in their ability to make dopaminergic neurons and how genetic background modulates their responses to environmental stressors. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our partners assisted with the provision and pooling of cell lines, and the bioinformatic analysis of resulting single cell RNA sequencing data. |
Impact | manuscript published in Nature Genetics |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | POMC antibodies |
Organisation | University of Manchester |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We have generated human POMC neurons from stem cells. Our system will enable Prof. White to examine the effect of exogenous factors, such as cortisol, on the expression and processing of POMC prohormone into separate bioactive fragments. |
Collaborator Contribution | Prof. White provided proprietary monoclonal antibodies targeting different regions of POMC. Their potency and specificity exceeds that of commercial alternatives. We are using these for immunostaining, Western blotting, and ELISA. |
Impact | Multiple manuscripts, and preliminary data that helped secure future funding. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Prion mice - Giovanna |
Organisation | Altos Labs |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We provide data on our experiments and access to new and improved methodologies |
Collaborator Contribution | Our collaborators provide control and prion brain homogenate and expertise in phenotyping |
Impact | this collaboration has allowed us to set out our prion mouse programme. We have tested 4 potentially neuroprotective drugs, and a manuscript describing the protective role of metformin is in preparation. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | calcium imaging and electrophysiology |
Organisation | University of Cambridge |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We provided human stem cell-derived hypothalamic neurons, helped execute calcium imaging experiments, and assisted with data interpretation. |
Collaborator Contribution | Groups in the IMS helped analyse calcium imaging data human stem cell-derived hypothalamic neurons, and perform patch-clamp electrophysiology |
Impact | paper published 2018 in Molecular Metabolism, and another manuscript in preparation. Disciplines: electrophysiology, calcium imaging, stem cell biology, gene editing, neuroscience |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | iNDI collaboration to select hiPSC lines |
Organisation | National Institutes of Health (NIH) |
Department | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) |
Country | United States |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | We are assisting with the analysis of whole genome sequencing data, and are differentiating a panel of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines to various neuronal lineages in order to select a cell line for future use by a consortium. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our collaborators have selected and obtained a panel of cell lines, have performed whole genome sequencing, and are also differentiating these cell lines down different lineages for comparision. |
Impact | We have published one manuscript that has already had a substantial impact on the stem cell field. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Title | GenEditID |
Description | Allows users to easily visualise gene-edited cell clones from pooled next-generation sequencing data. |
Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | n/a |
URL | https://doi.org/10.1101/657650 |
Title | GenEditID: bioinformatic pipeline for analysis of sequencing data from gene-edited cell lines |
Description | CRISPR is a powerful way to edit stem cell clones, but identifying cell clones carrying desired edits remains challenging. To address this issue we developed GenEditID, a flexible, open-access platform for sample tracking, analysis and integration of multiplexed deep sequencing and proteomic data, and intuitive plate-based data visualisation to facilitate gene edited clone identification. |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | The impact of this work is not immediately clear, but our hope is that it will facilitate other groups and facilities to establish their own high-throughput gene editing workflows. |
URL | https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/657650v1 |
Title | stem cell genome data portal |
Description | allows users to generate data portals to easily share and browse whole genome sequencing data |
Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | portal is being adopted by a major institution distributing stem cell lines (Jackson Laboratories and NIH) |
URL | https://hscgp.broadinstitute.org/hscgp |
Description | Big Biology Day |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | I participated in a "future careers" session at the Big Biology Day, a local event geared toward helping students with an interest in biology learn more about future careers in that area. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/events/126071581348115/ |
Description | CRISPR course instructor for CamBioScience |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | 100 researchers and industry members attended a course, which sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018 |
Description | Cambridge Science Festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | I volunteered to serve as a representative of the WT-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science at the Cambridge Science Festival, where hundreds to thousands of members of the public learned about issues in metabolism relating to their daily lives. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2019,2023 |
URL | http://www.sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk/events |
Description | Cambridge Science Festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | A stall from the IMS at the Cambridge Science Festival educated the general public about issues in obesity and metabolic science |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2023 |
Description | Generation of video to highlight the role of minorities in science |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | A graduate student in my group generated a video with the assistance of the University of Cambridge to raise awareness of the impact of minority researchers. This video has been posted to YouTube and has been viewed more than 1800 times. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f90C-psTPkk&t=21s |
Description | Participant in Roundtable discussion hosted by Nature magazine |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | A round-table discussion in front of an audience of over 100 professors, postdocs, editors, and policy makers debated the issues surrounding the safety and genetic stability of human stem cell-based research. The results will be published and disseminated via the web to reach a much larger audience. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Participant in public meeting hosted by ThermoFisher |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A public discussion of issues relating to stem cell genomic stability helped to inform issues relevant to stem cell basic and translation research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | development of a Neurodegeneration Community Building initiative |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We have developed a community building initiative to bring together groups in Cambridge working in neurodegeneration. We organised nine virtual symposia with over 35 speakers. The program included talks as well as breakout discussion groups about major unresolved topics. Speakers were drawn from academic and industrial institutions from around the world, and the events attracted hundreds of participants. We reserved the lion's share of presenting opportunities for students, postdocs, and newly independent group leaders. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
Description | hosted student in the laboratory |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | We hosted an undergraduate student in the laboratory for 2 days. She had an interest in biology and sought to gain insight into a career in science. Since visiting the lab, she has applied to MPhil and PhD programmes. Later, we hosted an undergraduate for 2 months in the summer. He reported that he would be much more likely to apply for graduate school as a result of the time in the lab. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2022 |
URL | https://www.exppg.lifesci.cam.ac.uk/ |
Description | presentation to a primary school |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | I spoke at a local primary school to all grade levels (approximately 210 students) about the brain and the neuroscience of appetite regulation. This sparked over 1 hour of questions and the school reported increased interest in the brain and many questions in class in this area. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2023 |