Sabino Mendez Pastor
Project title: How do TREM2 gene variants enhance susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease?
Supervisor: Professor Paul Matthews, Dr Raffaella Nativio, Professor David Owen
Location: Level 7, Sir Michael Uren Hub, White City Campus, 86 Wood Lane, W12 0BZ
About me
I am a PhD student in the Matthews lab in the Department of Brain Sciences, investigating how variants of the TREM2 gene elevate the risk of suffering from Alzheimer's disease. I discovered my passion for neuroscience during my BSc in Medical Biosciences at Imperial, where I characterised metabolic changes in microglia following inflammasome activation as my final year project. This passion led me stay at Imperial to complete an MRes in Experimental Neuroscience, where I carried out three projects in different areas of brain sciences including epilepsy, bioinformatics and Alzheimer's disease. I am excited to continue working on microglia and Alzheimer's disease during my PhD to help find therapeutic targets for a devastating condition that affects millions of people globally.
Research Interests
TREM2 gene variants have been linked to increased risks of developing Alzheimer’s disease, a neurodegenerative condition characterised by the accumulation of amyloid-β aggregates in the brain. Microglia are resident macrophages of the central nervous system and the only cell type that expresses TREM2 in this organ. Microglia can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease progression by releasing proinflammatory cytokines that promote the acquisition of neurotoxic phenotypes by astrocytes, a type of glial cells that provide support to neurons during health. My project investigates whether TREM2 variants can enhance astrocyte-mediated neurotoxicity by exacerbating the proinflammatory response of microglia to amyloid-β aggregates. To achieve this, I generate co-cultures of microglia and astrocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells expressing different TREM2 variants, and I use functional assays and RNA sequencing to evaluate their response to amyloid-β aggregates.
Qualifications
- 2022-2023: MRes Experimental Neuroscience (Distinction), Imperial College London
- 2019-2022: BSc Medical Biosciences (First Class Honours), Imperial College London
Presentations and Conferences
- ARUK London Science Day 2025 - poster presentation and flash talk
- AD/PD 2025 - poster presentation
- Stem Cell Models of Neurodegeneration 2025 - poster presentation
- Connectome 2024 - poster presentation
Outreach
- Great Exhibition Road Festival 2025
- Great Exhibition Road Festival 2023
Contact details
Email: sabino.mendez-pastor19@imperial.ac.uk
LinkedIn: sabino-mendez-pastor
