Affiliation: University of Oxford

Dr. Bengoa-Vergniory completed her PhD in 2014 in the University of the Basque Country. Her dissertation focused on the role of Wnt signaling during early neuronal differentiation in human stem cell models. In 2015, she joined the Wade-Martins laboratory and has since worked on the role of alpha-synuclein aggregation in Parkinson’s disease. Even though it is known that alpha-synuclein aggregation is a key feature of Parkinson’s disease progression, there are still many unanswered questions. Where does the toxic aggregation begin? How does it spread? Which cells respond to it? How can we prevent these processes? To better study the aggregation process and its consequences, and to better answer these questions, she uses genetic models, patient-derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, and human tissue and alpha-synuclein PLA-based assays, which will provide novel insights to the role alpha-synuclein oligomers play in the disease. Consequently, these methods could be used to identify new treatments for Parkinson’s disease.