Errin Roy
Academic and Work Experience Prior to Sept 2021 Programme Start
I completed my undergraduate degree in Human Anatomy at the University of Dundee and moved to London in 2019 to obtain my masters in Neuroscience at King’s College London.
While completing my MSc I developed a special interest in harnessing the potential of organoids for studying neurodevelopment, and during my thesis developing an open-source high content analysis pipeline to analyse hiPSC-derived gastruloids.
Before starting my PhD, I was fortunate enough to experience research out with my niche in the lab of Sibylle Mittnacht at the UCL Cancer Institute, contributing to work on identifying therapeutic vulnerability of RB-1 mutant osteosarcoma to Parp1,2 inhibitors.
PhD Programme- Year 1- MRes and Project Rotations
During my first year I was able to acquire a vast range of experience by rotating in the following labs:
Beatriz Rico Lab - 'Investigating the effect of early sensory experience on synaptic plasticity in L2/3 PV+ interneurons in the somatosensory cortex of mice'.
Benedikt Berninger Lab - 'Characterisation and generation of hiPSC-derived cerebral organoids for dissecting neuronal direct lineage reprogramming'.
Joana Neves Lab - 'Generation and characterisation of hiPSC-derived intestinal organoid and sensory neuron co-culture'.
PhD Programme- Years 2 to 4 - Doctoral Studies
I am now joining the Berninger and Rico Labs for my PhD project: ‘Investigating the development of human interneuron synapses in a xenotransplant model.’
Interneurons are essential for establishing balance and synchronisation of activity in the cerebral cortex, allowing higher-order cognition and perception in humans. Much of our knowledge of the mechanisms which underlie the formation of intricate cortical circuits and how interneurons integrate into them has been gathered from rodent models. However, the human cerebral cortex is remarkably expended as compared to rodents and other primates, including a more complex interneuron population which develop over a protracted period from a diverse progenitor pool in the ventral forebrain. This therefore raises a key question: Do human synapses follow similar or unique cellular rules to other species during development?
The rise of human-induced pluripotent-stem-cells (hiPSC) has allowed innovative modelling of human neurodevelopment. Yet, a model which sufficiently captures the developmental origin of interneurons and allows them to develop in an in-vivo like environment for exploring their maturation and synaptic integrating has not been developed. Therefore, this research aims to generate hiPSC-derived ventral forebrain organoids, which recapitulate the medial ganglionic eminence (the developmental origin of cortical interneurons) and transplant interneuron progenitors into the mouse somatosensory cortex.
Hence, creating a model which will allow us to monitor maturation into subtype specific interneurons and follow development of their synaptic connections as they integrate into mouse cortical circuits. Investigating these mechanisms will provide essential insight into human interneuron synaptic development, which not only has implications in understanding human-specific circuit complexity but may also provide critical insight for neurodevelopmental disorders underpinned by aberrant interneuron development in humans.
