Dr. Kathy Evans
- Reader
- Kathy.Evans@igmm.ed.ac.uk
Organisation Associations
Current research interests
My research aims to identify biological mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disorders (such as dementia) and psychiatric disorders (such as depression). We use data analytic and wet lab techniques to improve understanding at the level of the genotype, epigenome and cellular phenotype. Examples of current projects include:
- Functional analysis of mutations in candidate genes for the above disorders, via analysis of cellular phenotypes in iPSC-derived neuronal lines that have been subjected to CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing.
- Development of a phenotype-based high throughout drug screen centred around a candidate gene for Alzheimer’s disease.
- Whole genome methylomic (and other omic) analyses of Generation Scotland, a family and population-based cohort with extensive cognitive and psychiatric phenotype data.
Research in a nutshell
My research is aimed at understanding the mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s disease and psychiatric conditions, such as major depressive disorder. These conditions are severe, common, poorly understood and inadequately treated. While we don’t know the causes, we do know that all of these conditions have a strong genetic (inherited) component, as well as being influenced by the environment.
My group aims to further understanding of the causes of neurodegenerative disease and major mental illness by investigation of the function of the genes (and the proteins they encode) implicated in these illnesses. For example, in one project our goals are:
1) To understand how decreased amounts of the Alzheimer’s disease risk factor, SORLA alters the physical properties (or phenotypes) of human nerve cells. We hypothesise that loss of SORLA will lead to differences in cell survival, morphology and/or function.
2) To identify a phenotype (or phenotypes) that we can develop into an assay that can be assessed in a high-throughput manner. The longer term goal is to use this high-throughput phenotype-based assay in a drug discovery screen.