The Cavanagh Lab
The Cavanagh lab group works on the role of chemokines in immune regulation and migration within the brain in psychiatric disease.
Postdocs
Alison McColl
About Alison
Alison is Laboratory Manager for the Cavanagh group, including the "wet lab" group who work as part of the CRG, and the imaging group, based at the QEUH.
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Julie-Myrtille Bourgognon
About Julie
I am a research associate working in the Cavanagh lab. As a neuroscientist I investigate the links between inflammation and neurodegeneration on one hand, inflammation and depression on the other hand. Molecular biology and electrophysiology are the main methods I use to characterise neuronal and glial changes in specific brain regions of mouse models related to diseases like arthritis, depression, schizophrenia. The aim is to pinpoint early cellular, molecular and morphological changes in the brain in order to test potential drugs that could alleviate symptoms, if not slow or stop disease progression.
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Ph.D. Students
Maria Suessmilch
About Maria
"My research project will help characterise the role of specific chemokines and cytokines in different areas of the brain. The chemokines and cytokines we chose to look at are all up-regulated in neuroinflammatory states, and we want to understand how they contribute to the physiological and behavioural changes we see during central nervous system inflammation. Signs of neuroinflammation are commonly seen in psychiatry diseases, including depression, and I hope that my research will help understand the neuroinflammatory component of these diseases better".
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James Herron
About Jamie
"I am a PhD student in the Cavanagh lab within the Chemokine Research Group, studying chemokine expression, leukocyte recruitment and neurogenesis in an inflammatory model of depression. I am also an honorary specialty registrar in Old Age Psychiatry within NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. My research interests include all aspects of mental disorders, in particular neuroimmune mechanisms".
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