Dr Peta Greer (She/her)

About me:

Peta is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Exeter. Her research is focussed on understanding how differences in tau proteins within tauopathy types influences astrocytic tau accumulation and protein handling. She is using human iPSC-derived astrocytes as a model to measure tau dynamics with a view to determining the differences in tau processing and astrocyte function between individual tauopathies. She is generating tau extracts from post-mortem tauopathy brains to investigate tau dynamics across several tauopathies, namely Alzheimer's disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Pick's disease. 

Background:

Peta graduated with a BSc in Pharmacology from the University of Dundee. Following on from this she graduated with an MSc by Research in Integrative Neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh. During this time she spent 6 months investigating the effects of neuronal signalling on the astrocyte translatome under the supervision of Dr Zoeb Jiwaji and Professor Giles Hardingham. Following a spell as a research assistant working with the model system C.elegans, Peta extended her interests in astrocytes by undertaking a research project investigating whether alpha-synucleinopathies affect neurons and astrocytes in different ways in Dementia with Lewy bodies. This work was conducted at the University of Newcastle under the supervision of Dr Daniel Erskine. The collaborative and supportive research environment and mentorship affirmed Peta's interests in working to explore the role of astrocyte dysfunction within the dementia field. Her PhD was funded by the Medical Research Council GW4 Biomed Doctoral Training Partnership and focussed on investigating the role of glutathione peroxidase 4 as a therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease using Drosophila. This was a collaborative project supervised by Dr Gaynor Smith and Professor Julie Williams (Cardiff University) and Professor James Hodge (Bristol University). Peta now works with Professor Wendy Noble investigating the effects of tau exposure on astrocyte function. She is interested in how tau processing differs between individual tauopathies and works in collaboration with Dr Tom Piers, Dr Szi Kay Leung and Professor Jon Mill at the University of Exeter Medical School. 

Interests:

Dementia and ageing.

Astrocyte contributions to neurodegeneration.

Alzheimer’s disease and other tauopathies.

Tau and Synuclein Pathology.

Qualifications:

PhD awarded by MRC GW4 BioMed DTP (Cardiff University, 2024)

MSc by Research in Integrative Neuroscience (Merit) (University of Edinburgh, 2017)

BSc in Pharmacology (Honours) (2.1) (University of Dundee, 2016)