Natalie Connor-Robson

Research Interests

As part of the Oxford Parkinson’s disease centre my research is based around characterising the earliest pathogenic changes that occur in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and trying to understand how this leads to disease.  I am investigating how these molecular alterations lead to and cause the progression of the disease with the hope that this will allow us to develop a much better understanding of Parkinson’s. 

My work uses genetic models of PD and I am particularly interested in Glucocerebrosidase (GBA).  It is well known that people who are heterozygous for mutations in GBA have a higher risk of developing PD but why these mutations lead to the disease is currently poorly understood.

Biography

I studied Biomedical Sciences at Cardiff University graduating in 2009 and going on to complete my PhD in 2013 at the same university.  My PhD also concentrated on the mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease with particular interest in a loss of function role for alpha-synuclein.