Miniaturized Metabolomics Phenotyping of Parkinson's disease

My  overall  aim  will  be  to  establish  new  analytical  methods  and  to  optimise  and  miniaturise  current platforms that can be utilised in the study of dopaminergic neurons (and astrocyte co-cultures) that are derived  from  induced  pluripotent  stem  cells  (iPSCs)  for  the  study  of  oxidative  stress  associated  with mitochondrial dysfunction. I am fortunate to have access to a range of clinical samples that will enable cross  comparisons  of  any  results  obtained  during  the invitromodel  experiments  and  provide  vital information  of  which  metabolites  to  target  in  mitochondrial  dysfunction.  Using  the  new  methods  and information obtained from the clinical studies,I will be able to translate these into a miniaturised platform coupled to the perfusion channel within the OrganoPlate®. All of the experiments conducted over the four-year period will enable the creation of a validated, miniaturised, automated high-throughput invitropharmacological screening device that can used for Parkinson’s disease and future application to other conditions.