Dr Kaitlyn Cramb

Originally from Vancouver, Canada, I completed my DPhil in Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics at the University of Oxford in December 2023. I also hold a MSc in Cell Biology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and a BSc in Microbiology & Immunology from the University of British Columbia.

The characteristic motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are attributed to the progressive loss of dopamine and degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons in the Substantia Nigra of the midbrain. Why these neurons —and specifically, why these and not others —die in PD is not well understood. The aims of my JRF extend upon my DPhil work that investigated dopamine release deficits in human Parkinson’s patient-derived dopamine neurons, and looks deeper into the intricacies of impaired dopamine metabolism in PD. This research holds the potential to answer many fundamental questions remaining today on the molecular causes of PD, explain why it is dopamine neurons themselves that are preferentially affected and illuminate critical targets for disease-modifying therapies that are currently unavailable for PD.

Publications

• Loreto A*, Cramb K M L*…Wade-Martins R, 2024. Antisense oligonucleotides against SARM1 rescue neurotoxin induced axon degeneration and mitochondrial dysfunction in human iPSC-derived neurons. BioRxiv. Doi: 10.1101/2024.04.02.587827
• Cramb K M L, Beccano-Kelly D, Cragg S, Wade-Martins R, 2023. Early impaired dopamine release is a critical defining feature of Parkinson’s disease. Brain. Doi: 10.1093/brain/awad064.
• Do Q, Noor H, Marquez-Gomez R, Cramb K M L… Wade-Martins R, 2024. Early deficits in an in vitro striatal microcircuit model carrying the Parkinson’s GBA-N370S mutation. Npj Parkinson’s disease. Doi: 10.1038/s41531-024-00694-2
• Vahsen B, Nalluru S, Morgan G R, Farrimond L, Carroll E, Xu Y, Cramb K M L… Talbot K, 2023. C9ORF72-ALS iPSC microglia have a proinflammatory profile and induce apoptosis of co-cultured motor neurons via an MMP9-dependent mechanism. Nature communications. Doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41603-0.
• Williamson M G*, Madureira M*, McGuinness W, Heon-Roberts R, Cramb K M L… Wade-Martins R, 2023. Mitochondrial dysfunction and mitophagy defects in LRRK2-R1441C Parkinson’s disease models. Human Molecular Genetics. Doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddad102

* denotes equal contribution

Awards and Distinctions

ARUK Thames Valley Network Small Equipment Grant (2024)
Canadian Centennial Scholarship Fund Victor Dahdaleh Foundation award (2020)
Oxford University Medical Sciences Graduate School Studentship (2019)
Clarendon Fund Scholarship (2019)
St John’s College Lester B. Pearson Award (2019)
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postgraduate Scholarship Doctoral Award (2019)