Lauren Owens is a PhD student supervised by our Defying Dementia academics, although her stipend is funded by the Faculty, her reagent costs are funded through donations to Defying Dementia. Lauren submitted a poster to the ‘STEM for Britain’ competition which outlined the work carried out in the Defying Dementia laboratory; her poster was selected from hundreds of applications from early career researchers and was shortlisted for the final of the poster competition and exhibition, organised by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee and held in the Houses of Parliament.

Lauren’s poster showcased recently published work from the laboratory at Lancaster University. One of the well-established theories of Alzheimer’s is that the accumulation of toxic protein fragments in the brain are responsible for the disease. However, Lauren’s research suggests that the depletion of a related but beneficial fragment, called sAPPalpha, was more responsible for the toxicity observed in cell models of Alzheimer’s. The research adds weight to the argument that restoring these levels might represent an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

It was absolutely fantastic to see the Defying Dementia logo in the Houses of Parliament and to meet Lancaster MP, Cat Smith!