Researchers

Maria Sanita

DPhil Student / Research Assistant
Maria Sanita
About

Thesis Title: Structural Characterisation of SORLA Dimers via Cryo-Electron Microscopy: Unravelling Implications for Cellular Trafficking & Alzheimer’s Disease

Franklin Supervisor: Dr Michael Grange

University: University of Oxford

University Supervisor: Dr. Christian Siebold

Maria is completing her DPhil in Clinical Medicine, at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Medicine, with primary supervisor Dr. Michael Grange’s group at the Franklin (in which she also has the role of research assistant), and secondary supervisor Dr. Christian Siebold. Her project aims to investigate the structure, organisation, and interactions of sortilin-related receptor 1 (SORL1) protein dimers within live cellular environments through the use of cryo-electron microscopy, in order to unravel clues about its functions and disturbances in endo-lysosomal trafficking that ultimately make SORL1 one of the top four Alzheimer’s disease-causative genes.

Maria graduated with a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Surrey, during which she completed a professional training year at Harvard Medical School in the cell biology department. During her time there she conducted research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which grew her passion for neurobiology and scientific innovation.

Projects and Platforms

Structural Neurobiology

Developing cutting edge techniques to image structures in the brain on the molecular scale so we can identify early structural changes leading to disease onset.