Name:
Dr Sarah Carpanini
Job title:
Post-doctoral research associate
Place of work / study:
Dementia Research Institute (DRI) at Cardiff University
Area of Research:
Neuroinflammation
How is your work funded?
Funded through the Dementia Research Institute
Tell us a little about yourself:
I undertook a PhD at the MRC Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh focusing on a rare neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disease called Warburg Micro syndrome. I then moved to the Roslin Institute, also at the University of Edinburgh where I spent my first post-doctoral position examining mouse models of neurodegenerative disease. In 2018 I moved back home to Cardiff for my current postdoc and my first experience focusing on dementia to investigate the role of complement at the synapse in Alzheimer’s disease.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself:
I met my husband over the cooked chicken counter in Tesco and when I’m not working spend my time chasing after two young children.
Why did you choose to work in dementia?
Growing up we used to spend Sundays visiting my Grandfather in his nursing home who suffered from multiple sclerosis and two of my Great Grandmothers in their rooms along the corridor who both suffered from dementia. This has driven my focus, commitment and desire to make a difference in the field of neurodegenerative disease.