The team
Blanca Díaz Castro ~
Group Leader
Dr Blanca Díaz Castro joined the UK DRI at the University of Edinburgh as a Group Leader in 2019. Her lab focuses on understanding astrocyte contributions to the function and dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier.
She obtained her PhD degree in 2012 at the University of Seville - Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS) where she investigated mitochondrial dysfunction effects on neurogenesis and neurodegeneration. After a brief stay at Northwestern University, Chicago, she completed her postdoctoral research at University of California, Los Angeles. Her postdoctoral work was centered on the study of molecular and cellular aspects of astrocyte biology that contribute to neuronal function in health and disease.
Steve Hill ~ Postdoctoral researcher
Steve is interested in using multi-omics approaches to investigate cellular interactions at the BBB in health and disease.
He received his PhD from Drexel University in Philadelphia where he studied the importance of astrocyte-mediated Sonic hedgehog signalling on neuron function.
When he is not in the lab, he enjoys exploring Edinburgh with his wife and two girls.
Austėja Čiulkinytė ~ PhD Student
Austėja rejoined the Díaz Castro lab as a PhD student on the Wellcome Trust Translational Neuroscience programme. Her research focuses on characterising and detecting BBB dysfunction in ageing and early stages of neurodegenerative disease.
Previously, Austėja has also been part of the Díaz Castro lab, first as a BSc Biochemistry Honours student and then as a research assistant, studying the morphology of astrocyte-brain endothelial cell interactions in neuroinflammation.
Katrine Gaasdal-Bech ~ PhD Student
Katrine became a PhD student on the Wellcome Trust Translational Neuroscience programme. Her research focuses on investigating astrocytes in the context of rejuvenation-by-reprogramming in collaboration with the University of Seville.
She obtained an MSc in Neuroscience from King’s College London in 2021 specialising in neural stem cell and nervous system repair.
Ilaria Rossetti ~ Postdoctoral researcher
Ilaria joined the Díaz Castro lab with an interest on using her electrophysiology and imaging expertise to investigate the role of astrocyte communication with brain endothelial cells in brain function.
She obtained her PhD from Western Sydney University where she investigated the impact of ageing and chronic neuroinflammation on the cholinergic system using electrophysiology and different imaging techniques to study the interaction between glial cells and neurons.
Out of the lab, she enjoys hiking, cycling, and exploring Edinburgh.
Noelia Pérez Ramos ~ PhD student
Noelia is a PhD student of the VIDA programme interested in the role of astrocyte-vasculature communication in peripheral inflammation.
She had previously joined the lab during her integrated masters to characterise astrocytes in an amyloidosis mouse model.
When she is not in the lab she enjoys cooking and hiking.
Chiara Colvin ~ Research assistant
Chiara rejoined academia within the Díaz Castro lab as a research assistant, with a keen interest in understanding the mechanisms of astrocyte function within the BBB during health and neurodegenerative disease.
She obtained my MRes in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Strathclyde in 2021, investigating adipocyte-derived extracellular vesicle function on microglial cell signalling as a way of understanding obesity-induced neuroinflammation. From there, she joined Concept Life Sciences Ltd as a Scientist, specialising in developing primary cell- and tissue-based screening assays for client drug discovery studies.
Out of work, I enjoy being out in nature, playing tag rugby, and travelling with friends and family.
Paula Beltrán Lobo ~ Postdoctoral researcher
Paula joined the Díaz Castro lab with an interest to study interactions between astrocytes and the vasculature in tauopathies, combining her expertise in human post-mortem tissue and cell culture with multi-omic approaches.
She was awarded her PhD from King´s College London (KCL) in 2022, where she investigated the role of astrocyte and microglial P2X7R-mediated inflammatory signalling in Alzheimer´s disease. She then expanded her work during her postdoctoral research at KCL exploring astrocyte-neuronal interactions in tauopathies with a focus on extracellular chaperones as a crosstalk mechanism.
Outside the lab, she enjoys painting, discovering new cuisines, cat sitting and wandering around Edinburgh.
Alumni
Isabel Bravo-Ferrer ~ Postdoctoral researcher
Dr Bravo-Ferrer joined Blanca Díaz Castro's group at the UK-DRI in January 2020 as a postdoctoral researcher. Her research focuses on brain endothelial cell-astrocyte interactions and how they may be altered in different contexts such as aging or neuroinflammation.
She obtained her PhD degree at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2018, where she studied the role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor in brain aging.
Once Isabel finished her postdoc in our lab she continued her postdoctoral journey at UCL.
Carlos Parra Pérez ~ Research Assistant
Carlos Parra Pérez joined Blanca Díaz Castro's group at the UK DRI in November 2020 as an ERASMUS student and continued as a research assistant. He is developing different tools to help understand the interaction of brain endothelial cells and astrocytes.
He obtained a Biology BSc in 2019 at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and an MSc in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biomedicine in 2020 at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
After working in our lab Carlos started his PhD at the CNIC (Spanish National Centre for Cardiovascular Research).