Websites
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OPDC
Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre
- Google Scholar
- Publons
- Wolfson College Profile
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Collaboration
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
Research groups
Colleges
Selected media coverage
DPAG News:
The future of stroke treatment
Mootaz Salman appointed Departmental Research Lecturer
Fellowship awarded to Mootaz Salman could pave the way for early intervention in Parkinson’s
Mootaz Salman recognised by premier global society for Neurochemists
Mootaz Salman
BPharm, MSc, PhD
Group Leader and MRC Career Development Fellow
- Departmental Research Lecturer
- Group Leader at Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery
- Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College
- Governing Body Fellow at Wolfson College
- Senior Doctoral Training Advisor (SDTA)
Positions of Responsibility
- Convener of the Head of the Department (DPAG) Seminar Series (together with Dr Armin Lak).
- Member of the DPAG Graduate Studies Committee.
- Member of the DPAG Outreach and Public Engagement Working Group.
- Founding member of the aquaporin sub-committee, IUPHAR/Guide to Pharmacology. British Pharmacological Society
Research Interests
I am a Group Leader and MRC Career Development Fellow. I am interested in investigating mechanisms of blood-brain barrier (dys)function in neurodegenerative diseases using patient-derived stem cells, gene editing (CRISPR-Cas 9) and organ-on-a-chip technologies.
Biography
After graduating with a Bachelor of Pharmacy with Honours (BPharm(Hons)) from the University of Mosul, I studied for Masters and Doctoral degrees at Sheffield Hallam University. My PhD project investigated the mechanisms of water channel translocation in human brain cells. I discovered a novel pharmacological framework for developing new drugs to treat traumatic brain injury, brain oedema and stroke.
I held my first postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital. The project was in collaboration with Biogen®. I aimed to understand the cellular physiology of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in order to exploit the mechanisms involved in improving the effectiveness of therapeutic antibodies. The project involved developing an in vitro microphysiological 3D model that can be used for multiple high-resolution imaging modalities. I used transmission electron microscopy (TEM), 3D live fluorescence imaging, spinning disk confocal microscopy and advanced lattice light sheet microscopy (LLSM) to study the trans-BBB trafficking of fluorescently-labelled therapeutic proteins and antibodies.
I joined DPAG in late 2020. As part of Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre (OPDC), the aim of my project was to contribute to the development of novel therapeutic target discovery for Parkinson’s. I used CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering of highly physiologically-relevant human iPSC lines from Parkinson’s patients differentiated into dopaminergic neurons to investigate molecular disease mechanisms and validate new therapeutic hits. The project was in collaboration with GSK® which offered an exciting opportunity to work at the translational interface of academic and industry target discovery and drug development.
Team
Dr Kalina Naidoo (Postdoctoral Research Scientist).
Ms Elly Robles (Visiting Graduate from Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico).
Previous members:
Dr Ewa Grassin (Visiting Postdoctoral Scientist from University of Geneva). Currently, she is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Medical School.
Ms Elba Molpeceres Sierra (MSc student from University of Bordeaux). Currently, she is pursuing her PhD at Bordeaux Neurocampus in France.
Key publications
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Journal article
Kitchen P. et al, (2020), Cell, 181, 784 - 799.e19
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Journal article
Salman MM. et al, (2020), Front Bioeng Biotechnol, 8
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Journal article
Salman MM. et al, (2021), Nat Rev Neurosci
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Journal article
Sylvain NJ. et al, (2021), Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Biomembranes, 1863
Recent publications
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Astrocytes in functional recovery following central nervous system injuries.
Journal article
Alhadidi QM. et al, (2023), J Physiol
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Cerebral Malaria and Neuronal Implications of
Plasmodium Falciparum
Infection: From Mechanisms to Advanced Models
Journal article
Akide Ndunge OB. et al, (2022), Advanced Science, 2202944 - 2202944
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Assessing water permeability of aquaporins in a proteoliposome-based stopped-flow setup
Journal article
Steffen JH. et al, (2022), STAR Protocols, 3
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Characterization of human aquaporin protein-protein interactions using microscale thermophoresis (MST)
Journal article
Al-Jubair T. et al, (2022), STAR Protocols, 3
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High-yield overproduction and purification of human aquaporins from Pichia pastoris
Journal article
Al-Jubair T. et al, (2022), STAR Protocols, 3