Stephanie Shepheard

Flinders University, SA
Neville & Jeanne York PhD Scholarship
Motor Neuron Disease
Research Companion 2011

I am a PhD (Neuroscience) student at Flinders University in Adelaide under the supervision of Dr. Mary-Louise Rogers and Dr. Tim Chataway.
 
In 2009 I completed a Bachelor of Medical Science with a double major in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and Neuroscience/Physiology. During 2009, I completed a research placement in the Neurotrophic Laboratory at the Centre for Neuroscience in the School of Medicine.
 
In 2010 I completed a Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours undertaking Motor Neuron Disease research. I was awarded the Flinders Medical Centre Foundation Neil Della Honours Scholarship for the student with the highest undergraduate GPA in the School of Medicine. At the completion of my studies I was awarded the Glaxosmithkline David Ovedoff Prize for the best seminar by an Honours student in the Centre for Neuroscience.
 
I presented my research at the Australian Neuroscience Society Conference in Auckland, NZ in Jan/Feb 2011, and have been awarded the York Family/Rotary Health PhD Scholarship for Motor Neuron Disease by Rotary Health to continue my research into a biomarker for Motor Neuron Disease.

SUMMARY OF PROJECT:
p75NTR as a biomarker for disease progression 
Motor Neuron Disease (MND) is a devastating illness with no effective treatment. Approximately 1,400 Australians live with MND, and each day at least one person dies and another is diagnosed. Survival averages just 36 months after diagnosis and onset of MND in the 4th and 5th decade of life results in tragic effects on families. We do not yet have a way to measure the success of new drugs for this dreadful disease, thus finding a biological measure of the extent of this disease is critical.
 
My PhD project will follow on from my Honours research that found a molecule called p75NTR in the urine of mice with MND, but not in normal mice. I will develop ways to measure this ‘biomarker’ in blood in addition to urine and determine the levels of this molecule throughout the lifespan of mice with MND. I will test urine and blood samples from people with MND to show p75NTR can be used as a biomarker for human MND. My overall aim will be to determine if this 'biomarker' can be used to identify the effectiveness of new treatments of this devastating illness.