What is your name?
Paula Beltran Lobo
Where are you from?
Spain
To which class you belong to?
MSc Translational Neuroscience, Class of 2018
Where and what did you study before joining Imperial College London?
I studied BSc Biomedical Sciences at the University of Barcelona
How did you find your Master experience at the College?
I found the Master experience a unique academic opportunity that offered me both professional and personal growth. The course challenged the students and motivated us to work together. I am delighted to see that my classmates have become colleagues and friends of mine
Which research project did you work on?
My MSc research project focused on understanding the role of the translocator Protein 18 kDa (TSPO) in myeloid cells as a potential strategy to modulate the innate immune response in neurodegenerative diseases
Where are you now?
I am currently doing a PhD at King’s College London funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK)
What are you working on?
During my MSc course, I became very passionate about the role of the immune system in neurodegeneration. I decided to continue my research career with a PhD in this field. My current research project tries to unravel how inflammatory signals downstream of a purinergic receptor, known as P2X7R, contribute to tau-associated neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease
What is the most important lesson you learnt as a Master student?
Probably a valuable lesson I learnt was to persevere and to push myself
How did the Master programme help you get to where you are now?
The MSc programme gave not only the theoretical bases, but also the experimental knowledge required to enrol into the PhD programme