Research

Sophie’s PhD

Sophie’s work in her PhD focused on the development of a special type of brain cell, olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs).

These are responsible for guiding and supporting neurons involved in the sense of smell as they enter the brain. They have also been found to be an excellent candidate for spinal cord injury repair, and when grafted into injury sites can result in an amazing degree of recovery.

Sophie was trying to elucidate how these cells manage this repair by looking at how they develop. She found some critical differences between how OECs and other types of support cells develop, and she also found a number of genes and their pathways that are important for proper development of OECs.

While some of Sophie’s work is being continued in the lab, much of it has been published already  – in the Journal of Anatomy published in September 2016, and in a forthcoming issue of the journal Development.