Neurophotonics at the nanoscale

Dr Juan Varela's Research Group

Team

Principal Investigator

Juan Varela

I did my undergraduate studies in physics in Uruguay and subsequently, my PhD in nanomedicine in Ireland with Prof. Kenneth A. Dawson, studying interactions between nanoparticles and different types of cells. As my interest in neuroscience became stronger, I moved to France where I spent 4 years working at the Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience with Dr Laurent Groc and Dr Laurent Cognet where I developed techniques to study living brain tissue at the nanoscale.

I subsequently moved to the University of Cambridge to the labs of Prof. Steven F. Lee and Prof. Sir David Klenerman FRS, where I worked developing single-molecule imaging techniques to understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying dementia. I moved to the University of St. Andrews in 2019 to start my research group in the area of neurophotonics funded by an ERC Starting Grant. I currently hold a Readership in Experimental Biophysics and Biophotonics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of St. Andrews.

orcid.org/0000-0003-1901-1378

Postdoctoral researchers

Amy Dorward

I completed my undergraduate degree in MSci Physiological Sciences at the University of Dundee, after which I carried out my PhD at the University of St Andrews in the lab of Dr Samantha Pitt. My PhD research project was to investigate the role of metal ions and ion channels in the development of heart failure using electrophysiology and live-cell imaging techniques.

I am now a Research Fellow in the School of Medicine, working on a BHF-funded project in the Pitt group, co-supervised by Dr Juan Varela. This research aims to build on previous work from the group of Dr Samantha Pitt to further investigate the interaction between calcium and zinc ions in cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. This project will utilise the super-resolution microscopy expertise in Dr Varela’s lab, where I plan to examine ion dynamics and internal structures in cardiomyocytes (heart cells) and cardiac slices.

Vanya Metodieva

Following a BSc in Neuroscience, I completed a PhD in Neurobiology at the University of St Andrews under the supervision of Prof. Frank Gunn-Moore and Prof. Terry Smith. My work was focused on the role of astrocytes and their mitochondrial metabolism in region-dependent vulnerability in Alzheimer’s disease. Throughout this experience, I became interested in non-neuronal mechanisms driving pathology in neurodegenerative conditions. 

As a Research Fellow in the Neurophotonics group, I am studying the organisation of the extracellular space of the brain and Alzheimer’s disease-associated accumulation of proteins in several model systems.

 

Postgraduate researchers

 

Anna-Lena Zepernick

Originally from Germany, I studied at the Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena where I graduated with B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Biochemistry. During my PhD, I will be focusing on the clearance of waste products from the extracellular space of the brain, using super-resolution imaging techniques ex vivo as well as in vivo in the brain.

Berta Fatás-Rodríguez

I come from Spain where I completed my undergraduate degree in Chemistry. I obtained an MSc in Biological and Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, where I studied amyloid-beta aggregation using single-molecule techniques. I am currently doing my PhD co-supervised by Dr Carlos Penedo, Dr Juan Varela and Prof Terry Smith in the School of Biology at the University of St Andrews. My project mainly involves the study of the viral entry into the host cell using single-molecule fluorescence resonance transfer (smFRET). In particular, I will be working with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Chloé O’Rourke

I studied Biochemistry, specialising  in Drug discovery at the University of Dundee where I obtained a BSc Hons. Subsequently, I obtained a Masters by Research in the School of Medicine at the University of St Andrews in Dr Samantha Pitts’s Lab. My research was in the field of Cardio-oncology, investigating how drug interactions affect intracellular calcium dynamics, primarily using Lipid Bilayer Electrophysiology.

I am currently a PhD student under the supervision of Dr Juan Varela and Dr Gayle Doherty investigating the spatiotemporal dynamics of membrane-bound Leptin receptors in Alzheimer’s disease using super-resolution imaging techniques such as quantum dot tracking in living neurons.

Julian Butscher

I studied physics at the University of Heidelberg and the Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble. During my final year Master’s project I investigated novel materials for thin-film perovskite and organic photovoltaic devices.

To develop a type of closely related devices, based on organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), I joined the research group of Malte Gather under the co-supervision of Juan at the School of Physics and Astronomy in St Andrews. The aim of my project is to develop wireless OLEDs for optogenetic experiments that can be operated deep inside tissue. Furthermore, I hope to bring these devices to application in an animal model to contribute to the understanding of neurological diseases.

Pietro Esposito

I come from Italy, where I carried out my undergraduate studies. I graduated from the University of Trieste with an M.Sc. in Neuroscience. During the master’s thesis internship, I performed both electrophysiological and mechanobiological experiments. I am particularly interested in Alzheimer’s disease and for this reason, I decided to join the laboratory of Dr Juan Varela at the University of St Andrews as a postgraduate student. I will investigate how changes in extracellular space volume may influence the local accumulation and clearance of protein aggregates in the brain in wild type mice and transgenic mice models of Alzheimer’s disease.

Sybille Marchese

I obtained my M.Sc. in neuroscience from the University of Bordeaux in 2019, where I developed my interest in cellular neuroscience during my final year project, working on neurodevelopmental disorders with super-resolution imaging techniques (STORM). I am particularly interested in understanding how synapses work and in everything that can impair their ‘normal’ functioning. It’s with this idea in mind that I joined the Varela lab in late 2019 for my PhD.

I am now working on Alzheimer’s Disease, more precisely on the very early processes that lead to neurodegeneration. The objective of my PhD is to test the interactions of amyloid-beta oligomers with several of its potential receptors at the synapse, using super-resolution imaging techniques such as quantum dot tracking.

 

Former members

Amélie Sobczak (Postdoc)