Sonia Gandhi (scientist)

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For the politician, see Sonia Gandhi.
Sonia Gandhi
Alma mater
Scientific career
Fields
Neurodegeneration
Parkinson's disease
Institutions
ThesisThe role of PINK1 in Parkinson's disease (2009)
Websitewww.crick.ac.uk/research/find-a-researcher/sonia-gandhi Edit this at Wikidata

Sonia Gandhi is a British physician and neuroscientist who leads the

neurodegeneration laboratory.[1][2] She holds a joint position at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. Her research investigates the molecular mechanisms that give rise to Parkinson's disease. During the COVID-19 pandemic
, Gandhi was involved with the epidemiological investigations and testing efforts at the Francis Crick Institute.

Early life and education

Gandhi studied neuroscience at

PhD in 2009.[6]

Research and career

She was awarded a

SNCA gene, impacts cell physiology.[8] She makes use of single-molecule FRET and mitochondrial physiology to study the behaviour of alpha-synuclein at the molecular level.[7]

In 2016 Gandhi was awarded a secondment at the Francis Crick Institute.[9] Gandhi and co-workers showed that clumps of alpha-synuclein can be toxic to neural function, damaging proteins on the surface of mitochondria.[10][11] This damage forced a channel on mitochondria to open and made them less efficient in their production of energy, causing them to swell and leak essential chemicals – eventually causing the cell to die.[10] To perform the experiments, Gandhi and colleagues turned human skin cells into stem cells, which were converted into brain cells that could be investigated into the laboratory.[10] She was part of a team who investigated the use of exenatide as a means to slow the progression of multiple system atrophy.[12] In February 2020 Gandhi was awarded a Medical Research Council (MRC) clinical fellowship to study the fundamental origins of Parkinson's disease.[13]

During the

coronavirus disease.[14] In particular, Gandhi was interested in how the virus evolved throughout the course of the pandemic, how it impacted the nervous system and how it was transmitted between people.[14] She was also involved with the COVID-19 testing that took place at the Francis Crick Institute.[15]

Selected publications

Gandhi's publications[1][2] include:

  • A common LRRK2 mutation in idiopathic Parkinson's disease[5]
  • Mechanism of Oxidative Stress in Neurodegeneration[16]
  • PINK1-Associated Parkinson's Disease Is Caused by Neuronal Vulnerability to Calcium-Induced Cell Death[17]

References

  1. ^ a b Sonia Gandhi publications from Europe PubMed Central
  2. ^ a b Sonia Gandhi publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  3. ^ a b "Dr Sonia Gandhi". UCL. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  4. ^ ""The toxic consequences of protein aggregation in Parkinson's disease"". Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  5. ^
    S2CID 36186136
    .
  6. ^ "Sonia Gandhi". crick.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  7. ^ a b "Grants awarded: Intermediate Clinical Fellowships | Wellcome". wellcome.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  8. ^
    Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
    . Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  9. ^ UCL (2020-02-21). "Dr Sonia Gandhi awarded new fellowship". ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  10. ^ a b c "Scientists unravel molecular mechanisms of Parkinson's disease: Detailed brain cell analysis has helped researchers uncover new mechanisms thought to underlie Parkinson's disease". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  11. ^ Institute, UK DRI: UK Dementia Research (2020-06-01). "UK DRI: UK Dementia Research…". ukdri.ac.uk. UK Dementia Research Institute. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  12. ^ "Researchers begin trial of drug to slow progression of neurodegenerative condition Multiple System Atrophy". uclh.nhs.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  13. ^ UCL (2020-02-21). "Dr Sonia Gandhi awarded new fellowship". Brain Sciences. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  14. ^ a b "Coronavirus (COVID-19) research". crick.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  15. ^ Hughes, Laura; Hodgson, Camilla (16 April 2020). "UK unlikely to hit 100,000-a-day virus test target, warn experts". Financial Times. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  16. PMID 22685618
    .
  17. PMID 19285945
    .
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