Astrocytes: The Neglected Stars in ALS | Patani Lab | Doaa Taha | TEDxJohnLyonSchool

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a rapidly progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects the neurons controlling movement and leads to paralysis and death within few months. For so long, neurons have been the focus of researchers to try and find targets for therapy. Here, Doaa talks about her PhD research work in the laboratory of Professor Rickie Patani, using stem cells to study a type of glial cells, which supports neurons and hold potential for drug discovery.
Find out more about the lab:
www.crick.ac.uk/research/labs...
Twitter: @patanilab Doaa completed her Masters’ in Italy, working on Neural Stem Cells and completed her Undergraduate Degree in Egypt in Molecular Biology. She is currently doing her PhD at University College London and Francis Crick Institute in the laboratory of Professor Rickie Patani; studying a disease called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). It is a devastating Motor Neuron Disease where patients progressively lose the ability to walk, speak and finally breathe. Doaa has been using stem cells from patients and healthy donors to make supporting cells to neurons called Astrocytes, to understand their role in the disease and ultimately develop drugs for therapy. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx