Our Team

Nicol is fascinated in all things relating to neuronal cell biology, in particular the mechanisms of intracellular transport and local translation that are unique to cells with complex architectures. She joined the Fratta lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2015, and has been focusing on the pathological mechanisms of ALS. Specifically, she uses cultured motor neurons as a model of disease to look at the impact of ALS-causative mutations in FUS on protein synthesis, RNA binding protein condensates and transport in axons.

After completing her bachelor's degree in Neuroscience at Jacobs University Bremen, Anna-Leigh received a Postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD. After a brief flirtation with industry as a data analyst, she returned to academia as a visiting research scientist at the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Anna-Leigh joined Fratta Lab in 2019 as a PhD student studying splicing and RNA stability changes after TDP-43 loss of function. Her hobbies include chasing her pet rats around the house , forcing them to wear itty bitty hats, and karaoke.

Puja is a Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellow undertaking a PhD in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) laboratory research, supervised by Professors Pietro Fratta, Adrian Isaacs, and Giampietro Schiavo. Puja’s PhD project focuses on better understanding the mechanistic role of TDP-43 related splicing defects and cryptic exons in ALS. She will integrate two complementary disease models to investigate this — human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived motor neurons and post-mortem tissue from people with ALS. She graduated from the University of Cambridge, and subsequently began her neurology training at King’s College Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, before securing her fellowship in 2021.

Oscar studied Natural Sciences at Churchill College, Cambridge, focusing on biochemistry and physics, before joining the Wellcome Trust Neuroscience Program at UCL. Although he is primarily based at the Francis Crick Institute with Jernej Ule, he has been heavily involved with the recent Fratta lab projects on cryptic exons. When he’s not writing python programs, he spends his time designing high-throughput sequencing approaches and playing drums (both with varying degrees of success!)

Matha is a PhD student supervised by Prof. Pietro Fratta and Prof. Linda Greensmith, funded by Brain Research UK. Her PhD project is focused on small RNA biology and FUS autoregulation, in the context of ALS-FTD.

Sam is a bioinformatics PhD student jointly supervised with Dr Maria Secrier at the UCL Genetics Institute. His main research project focuses on using RNA-seq data to characterise how alternative polyadenylation is dysregulated in TDP-43 ALS, but he also involved in community efforts to evaluate bioinformatic tools and promote reproducible research. Outside of science Sam plays football and tennis, but dabbles in anything involving a lot of running about!

After graduating in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Padua in 2020, Matteo started his PhD at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology under the supervision of Prof Pietro Fratta and Prof Linda Greensmith, working on the genetics and pathophysiology of MND/ALS, FTD and SBMA.

Matt is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Fratta Lab. He is originally from St. Louis, Missouri. Before joining the Fratta lab, he completed his PhD at Johns Hopkins University and investigated the ubiquitin-proteasome system with Thimo Kurz in Dundee and Glasgow.

Upon completion of his MSc Neuroscience degree at the University of Oxford, Alex enrolled at the Institute of Neurology as an Eisai-Wolfson funded PhD student. Jointly supervised by Professor Pietro Fratta and Professor Tammaryn Lashley, Alex combines work in neuropathology and iPSC-derived cell biology to understand the role of hnRNP K in neurodegeneration and ageing. Outside of his studies Alex is a competitive distance runner and aspiring triathlete. He also holds an offer to read graduate medicine at Oxford upon completing of his PhD.

Wenanlan is studying for a PhD, having graduated with a Bsc in Neuroscience and Mres in Neuromuscular Diseases from UCL in 2020/2021. She works on SBMA gene therapy and FUS-ALS pathology under supervision of Prof Pietro Fratta and Prof Linda Greensmith. Outside of science she is a keen artist.

Rebecca completed her BSc (Hons) Pharmacology degree at the University of Bristol, before pursuing an MRes in Translational Neuroscience at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. In 2021, Rebecca joined the Fratta Laboratory as a research assistant and part-time PhD student, supervised by Professor Pietro Fratta and Dr Nicol Birsa. Her research project involves investigating the motor neuron response to stress, such as axonal damage, in mouse models of ALS.

Annalucia joined the Fratta lab as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in 2021 to develop Gene Therapies for Motor Neuron Diseases, in particular SBMA/Kennedy's Disease. Originally from Wales, Annalucia completed her PhD in Tissue Repair at The University of Edinburgh before moving to Australia for two years to investigate Gene Therapy for endocrine disorders as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. Outside of science, Annalucia enjoys climbing, travelling and walks with her sausage dog.

Eugeni worked as a research assistant in the lab for a year, before beginning a PhD. his research now focuses on rescuing downstream effects of cryptic splicing, as well as RNA modification and characterisation of cell lines as ALS models.

Ariana is a postdoctoral research fellow within the Lashley lab working on the role of hnRNP K in neurodegeneration. In collaboration with the Fratta lab, Ariana is investigating downstream RNA processes including cryptic exon events occurring upon hnRNP K mislocalisation in postmortem human brain. Outside of the lab, Ariana enjoys walking aimlessly around London and escaping home to the Mediterranean in Summer.

Max is a research assistant in the lab starting in October 2022. He graduated from the National Taiwan University in 2020 with a Master’s degree in Microbiology. Currently, he is working at the Francis Crick Institute with Oscar on cryptic exon-based therapeutics.

Clincal research nurse

National Institute of Health, USA

International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Italy

Dementia Research Institute, UK

Francis Crick Institute, UK

Queen Square Brain Bank, UK

UCL Genetics Institute, UK.

Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

University of Toronto, Canada

Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UK

MRC Harwell Institute, Oxford

Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, USA

Dementia Research Institute, UK

Dementia Research Institute, UK

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA

UCL Department of Neuromuscular Disease, UK

UCL Department of Neuromuscular Disease, UK

Institute of Biophysics, CNR, Trento, Italy