Kirsten Silvey

My research interests lie in understanding the role of intrinsically disordered proteins in health and disease. Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia worldwide and is characterised by plaques of aggregated amyloid-β in the brain. Although many intrinsic and extrinsic factors have been shown to increase the rate of amyloid-β aggregation, the structural features that induce the disordered monomer to aggregate have not been fully characterised. My PhD project, co-supervised by Dr Gabriella Heller and Professor Flemming Hansen, explores the structural conformations of monomeric amyloid-β using solvation-based Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) methods. Prior to starting my PhD, I did a Biochemistry (Industrial) BSc at the University of Leeds.