The Brennan Lab is the zebrafish neurobiology and behavioural genetics group at Queen Mary University of London.
We are proud to have a diverse and talented team led by Dr Caroline H Brennan, Professor of Molecular Genetics at Queen Mary University of London and a leader in the field of zebrafish behavioural analysis. At Brennan Lab we are particularly interested in endophenotypes associated with psychological disease including drug addiction and dementia. By combining behavioural analysis, imaging and cell biology techniques in wild type, mutant and transgenic lines, we investigate the neural correlates of reward and learning behaviours.
We are thrilled to showcase "Gene-ius fish," a project created by Dr Adele Leggieri, postodctoral fellow at Brennan Lab and selected for the Royal Society 2023 Summer Science Exhibition.
"Gene-ius fish", a remarkable fusion of genetics, neuroscience, and experimental biology, explores the genetic factors contributing to psychiatric disorders that affect millions of individuals worldwide, such as schizophrenia, depression, and autism spectrum disorders.
At the heart of the project lies the profound understanding that uncovering the genetic roots of psychiatric diseases is essential for developing targeted therapies and providing individuals with better clinical care.
Dr Leggieri is a Post Doctoral Research Assistant at the Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). Her research focus on identifying genetic and genomic variants associated with human psychiatric disease using zebrafish (Danio rerio) as model organism.
She completed her Master of Science in Biology at the University of Sannio (Benevento, IT) in 2014. She then went on to earn her PhD in Veterinary Sciences from the University of Naples Federico II in 2019. During her PhD, she spent 6 months as Visiting Scientist at the Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (Jena, DE), at the laboratory of Biology of Aging.
At the University of Naples, she has focused her research on the neurobiology of aging, using the turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri) as model organism. The aim of her project was to examine genes differentially expressed during aging in killifish brain, and their involvement in the adult neurogenesis. As part of her project, she characterised the neuronal phenotype of col25a1, which encodes for one of the component of the amyloid-β fibrils, the primary constituents of Alzheimer disease's senile plaques.
During her PhD, she contributed to the characterisation of neurotrophins and their receptors in both killifish and zebrafish. Neurotrophic factors are involved in neuronal proliferation and differentiation and play are key role in cognition and memory. Dysregulation associated with neurotrophins lead to neuropathies, neurodegenerative disorders and age-associated cognitive decline. Dr Leggieri identified and characterised the neuroanatomical expression of NT-6 (an additional neurotrophin of teleost genome) in killifish brain, and contributed to the description of NGF mRNA and protein distribution in the adult zebrafish brain and to the characterisation of the phenotype of NGF-positive cells.
She currently works at QMUL, where she uses reverse genetics and the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technique to study psychiatric disease-related endophenotypes and characterise molecular mechanisms underpinning psychiatric diseases.
Dr Giovanni Tretola is a young researcher working in the field of multiphase flow. After graduating from the University of Sannio (Benevento, IT) with a degree in Energy Engineering, Dr Tretola pursued his career in energy research, ultimately completing a PhD in Large Eddy Simulations of tubrulent sprays through probabilistic approaches at Imperial College London.
He then moved to the University of Brighton for a post-doctoral position, where he gained experience in the numerical modelling of multiphase flow at cryogenic conditions. He continued to build upon this knoweldge, focusing on the discrete element modelling of particulate systems and computational fluid dynamics. He then moved to King's College London where he worked on the development of advanced computational techniques to study the liquid/solid interaction.
Dr Tretola currently works as a Research Assistant at Univeristy of Oxford, working on Hydrogen Safety through computational fluid dynamic and machine learning methods.
Dr Tretola was a an invaluable resource in coding and developing our online game and hands on activities for the Summer Science Exhibition booth.
Xian is a driven and accomplished second-year PhD student in the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences at Queen Mary University of London. Her research interests are centred around pituitary adenomas and cardiac defects, which she studies using zebrafish loss of function lines established by CRISPR/Cas9.
Prior to her PhD studies, Xian completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in the Integration of Chinese and Western Medicine and Endocrinology at Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China. During her master's studies, Xian delved into clinical research primarily focused on type 2 diabetes mellitus and its complications, with a particular emphasis on human DNA methylation and transcriptome.
Xian's passion for clinical work and patient care has also been honed through a 33-month residency at the Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where she completed rotations in various departments as a resident physician. Xian's extensive experience in both research and clinical settings makes her a well-rounded and accomplished scholar in the field of medicine.
Our heartfelt gratitidue for the invaluable contribution as exhibitors at the event goes to: