Prof. Jenna Gregory BSc Hons PhD MB BChir (Cantab.) MSc MMedSc FRCPath – PI: Clinical Professor, Consultant Histopathologist & Clinical Lead for NHS Grampian Biorepository/Tissue Bank
Jenna Gregory’s research focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases with a particular focus on ALS. Her work involves studying patient post-mortem material for molecular differences that could explain why people with ALS have such diverse symptoms, including differences in disease progression and cognitive involvement. The aim of her work is to identify targets that could be used for diagnosis or to monitor disease progression, or ultimately, for therapies to improve the outlook for people with ALS.
Jenna studied preclinical medicine at St Andrews University before completing her clinical training and undertaking her PhD at Cambridge University. Following this Jenna moved to the University of Edinburgh to train as a pathologist and was appointed as a SCREDS clinical lecturer in 2018, and as a Senior Clinical Lecturer in 2022. Jenna holds an MSc in Molecular Pathology, and an MSc in Clinical Trials.
For a detailed biography of Prof. Jenna Gregory, please visit https://gregorylaboratory.com/biography/.
Dr. Fergal Waldron BSc Hons MRes MSc PhD (Cantab.) – Advanced Research Fellow
Fergal’s research examines factors that influence disease heterogeniety in ALS with special focus on the role of the gut, as well as inflammation and immune pathways. His work involves a combination of experimental, bioinformatics and evidence synthesis approaches to answer fundamental questions in ALS research.
Fergal obtained his PhD in Evolutionary Genetics from the University of Cambridge before undertaking postdoctoral work at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Edinburgh. His past research has focused on the evolutionary genetics of antiviral immunity in invertebrate animal models, and the evolution of antiviral immunity across invertebrates. https://www.abdn.ac.uk/people/fergal.waldron#about
Dr. Holly Spence MSci Hons PhD – MNDA Non-Clinical Fellow
Holly’s research focuses on the role of heavy metal dysregulation and oxidative stress in the physical biology of ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. She utilises brain imaging technologies, immunohistochemistry and metabolomics analyses, with the aim of improving precision medicine strategies for the oxidative stress endophenotype of ALS
Holly studied Biomedicine at Lancaster University before completing her PhD in Medical Sciences at University of Aberdeen investigating the role of brain iron in age-related cognitive decline and exploring the relationships between brain iron and blood markers for iron and inflammation. Holly joined the Gregory lab in March 2023. Holly presented her research as the winner of the Stefania Spanò Young Investigator Lecture Award in Sept 2024. Holly was awarded a Motor Neurone Disease Association Non-Clinical Fellowship in 2026.
Dr. Katie Hanna BSc Hons PhD – MNDA Non-Clinical Fellow
Katie’s primary research focus is exploring non-central nervous system manifestations of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. She is particularly interested in exploring the diagnostic potential of skin and related biofluids (sweat and sebum) as accessible, non-invasive sources of ALS biomarkers. Her long-term goal is to develop a probe-based skin test for early detection, risk stratification, and/or treatment monitoring.
Katie graduated from the University of Glasgow with an Anatomy degree in 2018 and subsequently obtained her PhD in Cancer Sciences at the University of Aberdeen. She is applying the skills that she developed in oncology, including Raman spectroscopy, to advance early detection of ALS and started working with the Gregory lab in September 2024. Katie is the proud recipient of a Guarantors of Brain award to attend ENCALS 2025 in Turin. Katie was awarded a Motor Neurone Disease Association Non-Clinical Fellowship in 2026.
Tatiana Langerová BSc Hons – PhD Candidate
Tatiana’s project is focused on peripheral pathologies associated with neurodegenerative diseases, predominantly looking at the gastro-intestinal tract. Her work involves immunohistochemistry, lipidomics/metabolomics and literature research. Her aim is to evaluate gastro-intestinal pathologies as a source of biomarkers which could be used diagnostically or to track disease progression.
Tatiana completed an undergraduate degree (BSc) in Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Aberdeen. She started her PhD with us in October 2023. Tatiana is the proud recipient of a John Shivas Young Researchers Fund award to attend ENCALS 2024, and a Guarantors of Brain award to attend ENCALS 2025 in Turin.
Kristine Roberts BSc MSc MIBMS – PhD Candidate, Advanced Research Fellow, Senior Biomedical Scientist
Kristine is an MND Scotland and the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office Clinical Academic Fellow undertaking a PhD that will focus on seeking new biomarkers of ALS/MND which could be used to detect the disease early, ideally before symptoms present. The ambition of the project is to create a test for routine samples, such as blood or small tissue biopsies, without the need for invasive brain or cerebral spinal fluid sampling.
The project is also interested in investigating whether these same biomarkers could be targeted with therapeutics to slow or prevent the disease, with a particular interest in the role the immune system is playing. Testing for immune cell markers and targeting these markers has proven effective in cancer research, with many current cancer therapies functioning by reactivating the immune system to fight cancer cells.
Kristine is a Senior Biomedical Scientist (NHS Grampian) with over 5 years tissue banking experience with the Grampian Biorepository which links tissue samples and clinical data as a national and global research resource. Kristine holds an MSc in Stratified Medicine, Healthcare Science from Ulster University, a Specialist Diploma in Cellular Pathology, Histology from the Institute of Biomedical Science, and obtained her BSc Hons in Applied Biomedical Science, from Robert Gordon University. Kristine joined our group in April 2024.
Former group members
Orjona Stella Taso BSc Hons MSc PhD – Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UCL – former PhD candidate
Stella is a PhD student in the Precision Medicine Doctoral Training Programme at the University of Edinburgh, co-supervised by Professor Jenna Gregory at the University of Aberdeen. Her research focuses on modelling ALS using iPSC-derived motor neurons and glial cells to investigate non-cell autonomous mechanisms of neurodegeneration. She has developed high-throughput assays and employs transcriptomic and imaging techniques to explore early molecular pathology in ALS.
Stella earned her BSc in the University of Greenwich, London in Biomedical Science (investing prion like commonalities AD, PD, HD and ALS proteinopathies) and her MSc in Neuroscience at The Francis Crick Institute at University College London (investigating the role TREM2R47H in AD mouse models).
Stella is now a postdoctoral research fellow at UCL working with Dr. Matthew Keuss and Prof. Pietro Fratta on the role of TDP-43 dysfunction in ALS.
Dr. Olivia Rifai BSc PhD -TL1 Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University – former PhD candidate
Olivia’s project aims to identify factors underlying clinical and molecular heterogeneity along the ALS-FTD spectrum, with a particular focus on neuroinflammatory signatures. This work employs methods such as immunohistochemistry and single cell RNA sequencing of post-mortem tissue and human stem cell-derived models, with the goal of better understanding mechanisms that may delineate ALS subtypes to allow for optimal clinical trial stratification and outcome measurement. Olivia is the proud recipient of an ADPD Junior Faculty Award presented to her at the ADPD meeting in Gothenburg, April 2023.
Olivia completed her BA in Biochemistry and MSc in Chemistry in 2018 as part of the Roy & Diana Vagelos Scholars Program in the Molecular Life Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, and began her PhD in 2019 as part of the Wellcome Translational Neuroscience PhD Programme at the University of Edinburgh.
Olivia is now a TL1 Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University working with Dr. Neil Shneider and his team on the role of immunity and inflammation in ALS. Olivia’s contribution to work on T-cells in ALS and FUS-ALS been published in The New England Journal of Medicine Evidence and The Lancet respectively, in 2025.
Dr. Sam Pattle BSc PhD FRCPath – Consultant and Academic Pathologist
Sam’s research focuses on finding occult morphological and molecular tissue reactions in patients with long-term systemic diseases, and exploring how such ‘para-pathologies’ relate to disease progression and patient outcome. His interests encompass malignant, neurodegenerative (including ALS), infectious and autoimmune conditions. His work involves histological and molecular analysis combined with intelligent extraction, curation and synthesis of pathological and clinical data to create deeply phenotyped tissue banks that enable long-term systemic diseases to be studied through linked tissue and clinical data across the lifetime of the patient.
Sam is a pathologist with medical and specialist training undertaken in Edinburgh. He obtained his PhD in Molecular Virology from St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College London, before undertaking postdoctoral work in the Channing Laboratory, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and in the Division of Pathway Medicine, University of Edinburgh. He is currently working in NHS Fife, Scotland.
Judi O’Shaughnessy (Histology Technician)
Judi is a histology technician with 20 years’ experience who is currently working on a project funded by the Pathological Society, and more recently the NIH, tasked with understanding the biophysical properties of human tissue with a research focus on motor neuron disease. This role is a joint appointment assisting both the Gregory Lab and the Horrocks Lab in the Department of Chemistry (University of Edinburgh). Judi’s previous roles have included a broad range of clinical and research applications of her skills including clinical (NHS) tissue handling, as well as university-based academic research and tissue banking (Edinburgh Brain Bank).
Judi trained in London and moved to Edinburgh in 2013. Her specialist skills include: human tissue handling, microtomy, whole slide processing and imaging, immunohistochemical staining, special stains and BaseScope in situ hybridisation. Judi also helps with other projects in the lab and has substantial expertise in protocol development, lab safety and management.
Project and visiting students
Danah Sleibi
Danah joined us as a medical student in Aberdeen with an interest in neuroscience. As part of the Aberdeen Summer Research Scholarship (ASRS) programme she investigated key clinical-pathological correlations of rare genetic variants in ALS using human tissue staining techniques combining BaseScope RNA ISH and immunohistochemistry (July-Aug 2022).
Rollo Press
Rollo joined us as a medical student in Aberdeen with interests in neuroscience and surgery. Rollo carried out his honours research project with us (Jan – March 2023) aimed at understanding the role of the gut in ALS.
Alexander Jackson
Alexander joined us as a medical student in Aberdeen with interests in neurology and general practice. Alexander carried out his honours research project with us (Jan – March 2023) aimed at understanding the role of the microbiome in ALS and was awarded the “University of Aberdeen School of Medical Science Neuroscience Degree Prize 2023”. As part of his medicine elective rotation (Mar – May 2024) Alex carried out a systematic review on “Aptamers in Neurodegenerative Disease” which he presented as a poster at the European Network to Cure ALS (ENCALS) annual meeting in Stockholm in June 2024, and for which he was awarded an “Elective Advisor’s Medal” for most merititious elective project from the University of Aberdeen School of Medicine, Medical Science and Nutrition.
Christine Addae-Kyereme
Christine joined us as a medical student in Aberdeen with an interest in neuroscience, in particular the role of the gut-brain axis in neurodegenerative disease. Christine worked with us (July-Aug 2023) as part of the Aberdeen Summer Research Scholarship (ASRS) programme investigating the role of iron in neurodegeneration, winning a poster prize for her project at the Summer Research Scholarships Symposium 🙂
Angus Shorthouse
Angus joined us as a medical student in Aberdeen with an interest in the determinants of disease heterogeneity in neurodegenerative diseases. Angus worked with us (July-Aug 2023) as part of the Aberdeen Summer Research Scholarship (ASRS) programme investigating the role of early-life in neurodegenerative diseases. Angus is the recipient of an INSPIRE Flora Gow Murray Summer Scholarship, where we weclomed him back to the lab again in June 2024.
Scott Purdie
Scott joined us as a medical student in Aberdeen with an interest in neuroscience, in particular the role of inflammation in neurodegenerative disease. Scott carried out his Medical Science Honours Project with us (Dec 2023-April 2024) investigating the role of inflammation in ALS-FTSD. Scott was selected to present his work on inflammation in ALS-FTSD at the The International Journal of Medical Students (IJMS) World Conference of Medical Student Research in Oct 2024, and received second prize for best original research presentation based on judges score, out of 34 presentations from 19 countries. Well done Scott!
Will Daley
Will joined us as a BSc (Honours) Immunology student in Aberdeen with an interest in immunology and neuroscience, in particular the role of the immune system in neurodegenerative disease. Will carried out his Medical Science Honours Project with us (Dec 2023-April 2024) investigating the role of inflammation in ALS-FTSD.