Dr Aitana Sogorb Esteve
Name:
Dr Aitana Sogorb-Esteve
Job title:
Race Against Dementia Fellow [1]
Place of work / study:
The Dementia Research Centre, University College London
Area of Research:
I am a Race Against Dementia fellow coordinating the fluid biomarker team of Dr. Jonathan Rohrer group at UCL. Our aim is to find of novel fluid biomarkers to assess cellular dysfunction in genetic FTD. I am looking for fluid biomarkers of synaptic dysfunction in genetic FTD and aiming to develop a technique for measuring these synaptic markers in blood. This will be of great interest to assess the synaptic dysfunction in the diagnosis of FTD but also to monitor treatments in clinical trials.
How is your work funded?
Race Against Dementia ARUK fellowship
Tell us a little about yourself:
I have a background in Biology and Neuroscience, and specifically in dementia. I am particularly interested on the development and discovery of new fluid biomarkers to help with the diagnosis and monitoring of clinical trials in frontotemporal dementia. I studied biology and Neuroscience at the University of Alicante (Spain). After finishing my PhD in Neuroscience at the Institute of Neuroscience of Alicante (Spain), I moved to the UCL to start as a postdoctoral researcher at the UK Dementia Research Institute investigating novel fluid biomarkers for microglial activation in Alzheimer’s Disease and afterwards, I started working in fluid biomarkers if FTD with Dr. Jonathan Rohrer, where I am working now. I am a STEM Ambassador and help coordinating the social media of our group.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself:
I was meant to be a musician. I have more than 10 years of clarinet studies, I also play guitar, cello and a typical instrument from my region in Spain but finally I chose dementia!
Why did you choose to work in dementia?
I have been always very interested in Science. My dad was a Science teacher and he always brought me to the country trips to learn about plants and animals in our region. For that reason, I decided to study Biology and I was very sure I wanted to be a Marine Biologist. However, in the last years of my degree I started applying for subjects related to neuroscience and I fell in love with the field. I did a summer internship in a laboratory focused on molecular basis of Alzheimer’s disease and that finally convinced me this is what I want to do for the rest of my life!