By Dr Fiona Kerr
| Lecturer in Molecular Pharmacology, Edinburgh Napier University |
Dr Fiona Kerr is a Lecturer in Molecular Pharmacology at Edinburgh Napier University. Until January 2021, she was a Research Fellow and Principal Investigator at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU), with a focus on studying the molecular links between ageing and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Previously, she undertook her PhD (2002-2006) under the supervision of Prof Sir Simon Lovestone, at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, where she investigated the connections between diabetes mellitus and AD pathology using cell culture and animal models. She then spent 10 years as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the lab of Prof Dame Linda Partridge, at the Institute of Health Ageing, University College London, where she investigated the role of longevity genes in preventing AD pathology using the fruit fly, Drosophila Melanogaster. As a lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University (2016-2017), and now as Research Fellow at GCU, she leads her own research group, which aims to translate her findings to human systems using neuronal cell culture models. Her work has involved extensive collaborations nationally and internationally, and is funded by a GCU Research Fellowship & PhD studentship, pilot funding from Tenovus Scotland & the ARUK Scotland Network, and Vacation Studentships from the Biochemical Society & the Wellcome Trust.
Outside of the lab Fiona is a member of the Alzheimer’s Research UK Scotland Network Organising Committee, a Carnegie Research Trust Research Assessor (Science, Engineering & Technology (SET) Panel) and an Early Career Researcher Representative for the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Association (SULSA). Finally, she is passionate about communicating science to a wide range of audiences, and has been actively involved in Public Engagement activities at the Royal Society, the Science Museum (London), and the British Library, as well as in the local community as part of Glasgow Science Festival and GCU Community Science Day events.
—