Race Against Dementia and Barbara Naylor Charitable Trust Fellow
University of Warwick, UK
Dr Lane-Hill undertook her undergraduate degree in Medical Genetics at the University of Leicester before moving to the University of Warwick for her BBSRC funded PhD in Neuroscience. She was awarded a Race Against Dementia Fellowship in 2021 and is working in collaboration with world-leading dementia biomarker experts at the University of Gothenburg.
In addition to her research, Emily is the co-lead of the Neuroscience research cluster and chair the SLS PostDoc Society at the University of Warwick. She is an Associate fellow of the Institute of Advanced studies and an active member of the ARUK midlands network.
“My father has battled Parkinson’s disease for the last 15 years and I have witnessed first-hand the devastating effects that these complex disorders have on both patients and their families. I am very grateful to Sir Jackie Stewart for his drive and passion to beat dementia and for putting together this programme to support early career dementia researchers. I am excited to contribute to solving the big puzzle of dementia and trying to reduce the heartbreak and suffering of future families.”
Dr Emily Lane-Hill
Research Summary
Dr Lane-Hill is investigating the role of tau, a protein known to disrupt the function of neurons in the brain in the early stages Alzheimer’s disease.
Tau is highly expressed in nerve cells in the brain and helps to maintain their correct shape. In Alzheimer’s disease, tau molecules can misfold and join to form clumps. These early aggregates are thought to be amongst the most toxic forms of tau and can disrupt the function of neurons in the brain, even in the very early stages of disease.
Emily’s work has previously shown that tau can alter its function and the way it communicates with other neurons. Emily is exploring the mechanisms behind these changes. She primarily uses a highly specialised method which allows her to record the function of a single neuron at a time and challenge it with these tau aggregates to look at changes in function. She then complements this with detailed computational modelling to predict the underlying mechanisms. Dr Lane-Hill hopes her knowledge will highlight novel targets for treating Alzheimer’s disease in the future.
