Doctoral Candidate Position 16 - University of Oxford, UK
The effects of inflammation in the human Parkinson's disease brain
Nita is a DPhil student in Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Oxford. Utilising
high-throughout AI-driven digital tools, proteomics, and transcriptional profiling, her
research focuses on investigating the spatiotemporal interplay between a-synuclein
pathology and neuroinflammation in Parkinson's disease (PD).
Nita graduated with an MSc in Biomedical Sciences (Psychopharmacology and
Pathophysiology) from the University of Amsterdam in 2024 and specialises in human
brain tissue analysis. Her research experience includes studying hypothalamic
alterations in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at the Netherlands Institute for
Neuroscience and the neuropathology of REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) at
Oxford's Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences. Nita has worked in close
collaboration with the Netherlands Brain Bank and Oxford Brain Bank and is actively
involved in patient engagement as a public outreach ambassador.
Description of project
This post provides an exciting opportunity to join a multidisciplinary research team funded by Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Network (BICEPS) to investigate the role of inflammation in Parkinson's disease (PD). Decades of research into PD have fallen short in fully comprehending its mechanisms, leaving us without a cure. Current treatments merely alleviate symptoms temporarily, but are unable to impede the progression of the disease. Clearly, PD research has hit a wall, and new approaches are needed. Recent discoveries of the involvement of the peripheral immune system in PD have sparked a ground-breaking proposition that PD must be considered a systemic disease with an immune response involving both brain and periphery. Thus, to revolutionize PD research, we must shift away from the neuro-centric approach of past decades and extend our focus to studying the immune system outside the brain. Furthermore, recent advancements, such as systems biology and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven data mining, diagnosis, and drug development, hold significant promise for advancing PD research.
The BICEPS network includes 15 participants from the European academic institutions, startup companies, and established pharmaceutical firms including University of Oxford. The primary objective is to train a new generation of PD researchers with interdisciplinary expertise in these fields. This ambitious goal will be realized through an intensive training program that encompasses cutting-edge methodologies, encourages innovation, nurtures transferable skills, and provides immersive, hands-on research experiences. Thereby, the BICEPS network aims to shape the future of PD research by adopting a fresh perspective and expediting the development of diagnostics and therapies for PD, with a particular focus on the immune system. The project in University of Oxford will focus on studying the effects of inflammation specifically in the human Parkinson's disease brain and is led by Professor Laura Parkkinen from the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences who also directs the Oxford brain bank. Prof Parkkinen's research group is combining expertise in translational neuropathology, molecular biology, protein chemistry, genetics and computational biology to investigate mechanisms and develop drug targets and biomarkers for two main neurodegenerative disorders, Alzheimer's disease and PD. The main objective of this current project is to deconvolute the neuroinflammation with pathological hallmarks of human PD brain and progression of disease using high-throughput, AI-driven digital tools, proteomics, and transcriptomic profiling.