I’m Sophie, a Postdoctoral researcher in the BRG. I work in the field of Huntington’s disease, looking to develop strategies for cell replacement therapy, which includes understanding development of the striatum, and understanding the HD brain in development. 

My PhD looked at directed differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells for repair in Huntington’s disease, and involved cell culture, gene expression studies, transplantation into HD models and histological analyses. 

Previously I was a key member of the team delivering cell products for the transplantation clinical trials TRANSEURO (Parkinson’s disease) and TRIDENT (Huntington’s disease). Experience working in the cleanroom and trained in GCP and taking consent. I am a Human Tissue Officer for the Neuroscience division. I sit on the SWIFT-RTB Governance committee; the HTRGC committee and the School of Biosciences Research Ethics committee. I am also involved in public outreach and have visited primary and secondary schools to deliver neuroscience engagement activities.