Ana Aragón González

I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Tofaris Lab based at the Kavli Institute, at the University of Oxford. My work focuses on exploring the mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s disease using CRISPRi technology. This approach allows us to selectively suppress genes in Parkinson’s cellular models to better understand their role in disease pathogenesis and cellular diversity.

During my PhD at the University of Malaga (Spain) and the University of Sheffield (UK), I specialized in modelling the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) using stem cells derived from patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), under the supervision of Prof Laura Ferraiuolo. Subsequently, I was honoured to receive a Spanish Fulbright Scholarship, which enabled me to advance this research at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Ohio, under the supervision of Assist Prof Kathrin Meyer, where I studied BBB alterations in neurodevelopmental disorders.

My long-term goal is to elucidate the molecular pathways involved in neurodegeneration and contribute to therapeutic strategies that reduce the burden of these disorders on patients and their families.