OUR RESEARCH
Three interconnected questions guide our work.
01
Neurovascular vulnerability in Parkinson’s disease
We investigate how Parkinson's disease-associated genetic and cellular changes alter the blood-brain barrier and neurovascular unit. Our work examines how endothelial cells, astrocytes, pericytes and the vascular extracellular matrix interact to create - or restore - a disease-vulnerable neurovascular environment.
02
Communication across the blood-brain interface
The blood-brain barrier does more than restrict molecular entry into the brain. We study how it senses, transports and responds to signals arising from both the circulation and the central nervous system, and how these processes may influence Parkinson's disease.
03
Human models of the blood-brain interface
We develop human experimental systems that allow mechanisms of blood-brain communication to be studied directly. By combining patient-derived iPSCs with multicellular, three-dimensional and microfluidic brain-chip models, we can investigate directional transport, cell-cell signaling and vascular responses in a human disease context.