Signalling of DNA single-strand breaks and links to neurodegeneration

Svetlana is a biochemist with interests in DNA damage signalling and repair, also known as the DNA damage response. The cellular response to DNA damage is crucial in living cells that need to repair thousands of DNA lesions each day. The majority of these lesions arise from the intrinsic chemical instability of DNA, and defects in repair lead to human diseases such as cancers and neurodegeneration. Svetlana will use a wide variety of biochemical and molecular biological techniques to expand our understanding of the links between deficiencies in the DNA damage response and the molecular nature of progressive neurological diseases.