Gizem Önal

I completed my Ph.D in the Department of Medical Biology at Hacettepe University and the focus of my Ph.D thesis was the investigation of the effects of Glucosylseramidase beta (GBA) mutations on α-synuclein degradation mechanisms in iPSC derived dopaminergic neurons. My main research interest is the autophagy-related cellular clearance mechanisms due to the commonality features shared by neurodegeneration-related diseases.

I am currently a postdoctoral neuronal cell biologist in Prof Richard Wade-Martins's laboratory. My research at the University of Oxford mainly aims identification of novel genes with functions in the Parkinson's disease-relevant endolysosomal pathways, using state-of-the-art CRISPRi techniques in human stem cell-derived neuronal models to eventually describe potential targets preventing neurodegeneration.