Dr Ryan West
School of Medicine and Population Health
Senior Fellow and Dementia Research Leader Fellow
+44 114 222 2239
Full contact details
School of Medicine and Population Health
Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN)
385a Glossop Road
Sheffield
S10 2HQ
- Profile
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2025 – Present: Senior Fellow, Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Research Leader Fellow (SITraN, ϳԹ of Sheffield)
2023 – 2025: Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Research Leader Fellow (SITraN, ϳԹ of Sheffield)
2019 – 2023: SITraN Fellow and Alzheimer’s Society Fellow (SITraN, ϳԹ of Sheffield)
2018 – 2019: Alzheimer’s Society Junior Fellow (ϳԹ of Manchester)
2015 – 2018: Postdoctoral Research Associate (ϳԹ of York)
2013-2015: Centre for Chronic Diseases and Disorders Wellcome Trust funded “Discipline hopping” Fellow (ϳԹ of York)
2010 - 2013: PhD, The ϳԹ of York
- Research interests
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Our research looks to use Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies) as a powerful genetic model organism to dissect the molecular mechanisms contributing to neurodegenerative diseases including dementia, motor neurone disease and Parkinson’s disease. Our primary research focuses on two overlapping neurodegenerative disorders, Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) and Motor Neurone Disease (MND). We are particularly interested in how dipeptide-repeats associated with the disease causing hexanucleotide expansion within the C9orf72 gene contribute towards neurodegeneration and the role of gene-environment interactions in disease. In the lab we have a number of Drosophila models of both FTD and MND including C9orf72 related DPRs, C9orf72 pure repeat models and models of CHMP2B, VCP and TDP-43 related disease. We are interested in how we can use Drosophila as part of a translational pipeline both to understand the molecular mechanisms of disease and as part of a drug-screening strategy.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- . Life Science Alliance, 8(2), e202402757-e202402757.
- . Acta Neuropathologica Communications, 11(1).
- . Bio-protocol, 12(10).
- . Neurobiology of Disease, 147.
- . Acta Neuropathologica Communications, 8.
- . Neurobiology of Disease, 144.
- . Scientific Reports, 10(1).
- . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285(1893).
- . Journal of Comparative Neurology, 526(13), 1995-2009.
- . Journal of Neurophysiology, 119(3), 957-970.
- . Human Molecular Genetics, 27(8), 1382-1395.
- . Movement Disorders, 33(2), 248-248.
- . Human Molecular Genetics, 24(24), 6899-6909.
- . Scientific Reports, 5(1).
- . Future Neurology, 10(6), 507-510.
- . Journal of Cell Science, 128(18), 3386-3397.
- . Journal of Cell Biology, 208(7), 931-947.
- . Parkinson's Disease, 2015, 1-11.
- . Autophagy, 8(2), 284-285.
- . Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 15.
- . eLife, 7.
Preprints
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- . Life Science Alliance, 8(2), e202402757-e202402757.
- Research group
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Joanne Sharpe (PDRA)
Ruth Thomas (PDRA)
Sam Bonsall (PDRA)
Debarati Bhattacharya (PDRA)
Jasmine Speranza (PDRA)
Charlotte Gale (PhD Student)
Ergita Balli (PhD Student)
Abbie Stretch (PhD Student)
David Rhodes (PhD Student, Secondary Supervisor)
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Member of NC3Rs Partnerships and impact Panel, 2024 - present
- Member of NC3Rs Studentship Grant Panel, January 2023 - 2024
- Current Funding Sources
- Alzheimer’s Society
- ARUK
- Motor Neurone Disease Association
- My Name’5 Doddie Foundation
- Tambourine’s ALS Breakthrough Research Fund, in Partnership with the Milken Institute
- MRC
- MRC DiMeN