Alumni Activities

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Past Life Sciences Alumni Events

Bench to Bedside: bringing insights from basic research towards treatment for patients by Stephanie Schorge, Professor of Translational Neuroscience from the Research Department of Pharmacology (UCL School of Pharmacy)

UCL Life Sciences alumni were invited to hear Professor Stephanie Schorge reveal how basic 'blue sky' research into the behaviour of neurons has led to funding for a clinical trial to treat patients with severe epilepsy. Building on UCL’s neuroscience tradition, they explored how mutations in human genes that cause neurological disease such as epilepsy, cause the behaviours of neurons to change. Stephanie presented how the first study of gene therapy in a rat model of epilepsy was able to stop seizures. Since this first study, Stephanie and her collaborators have developed a portfolio of new possible ways to stop seizure activity in different models.

Stephanie commented ‘This work represents the best of collaboration at UCL, where basic scientists in NPP, clinicians and scientists in the Queen Square ION, as well as surgeons in the NHNN, and experts in translational neuroscience at the School of Pharmacy have joined together to bring basic research through to clinical trial.’