Directory of Experts
Details for Dr Shabnam Baig
| Personal details | |
| Name | Dr Shabnam Baig |
| Job title | Research Assistant |
| Department | School of Clinical Sciences University of Bristol |
| Contact details | This expert can be contacted via the University of Bristol Public Relations
Office. To help us deal with your request, please mention the Directory of Experts when contacting the Public Relations Office. work+44 (0)117 928 7777 email: public-relations@bristol.ac.uk |
| Qualifications | BSc(WEngland), PhD |
| Professional details | |
| Keywords | Alzheimer's disease extracellular matrix perineuronal net amyloid tau picalm |
| Areas of expertise | My PhD focused on how certain specialised regions of the extracellular matrix, a delicate framework of material that acts like scaffolding to support nerve cells in the brain, are affected in Alzheimer’s disease. I went on to study how the toxic chemical amyloid affects enzymes that are responsible for breaking down not only extracellular matrix but also amyloid itself. In addition I looked at transforming growth factor-beta, a signalling chemical involved in the production of extracellular matrix and in cell survival. I investigated how its signalling pathway was disrupted by phospho-tau, a chemical that accumulates within nerve cells in Alzheimer’s disease. Most recently I have looked at picalm and clusterin, the genes for which are associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. I am now starting an Alzheimer’s Society Research Fellowship to investigate the role of picalm in the removal of amyloid from the brain. |