Pranesh Padmanabahn

Title

Imaging-based approaches for understanding and treating Alzheimer’s disease 

Abstract

Developing effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) requires a quantitative understanding of its underlying pathomechanisms to identify new druggable targets and strategies to overcome the blood-brain barrier for improved drug delivery.

First, I will discuss our ongoing imaging-based research into how AD pathologies trigger neurotoxic signals at synaptic connections, leading to synaptic dysfunction. In particular, I will explore the role of synaptic protein nanodomains in this process. Next, I will introduce our new high-resolution multicolour imaging device, which has revealed a cascade of interconnected cellular bioeffects that shape distinct cellular fates in response to ultrasound-based treatment for drug delivery. 

Biography

Pranesh Padmanabahn is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership (Level 2) Fellow at the University of Queensland (UQ), where he leads the Molecular and Systems Medicine Group. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, where he developed multiscale mathematical models of infectious diseases to better understand and improve treatment outcomes. Following his PhD, he was awarded a three-year Postdoctoral Fellowship to join UQ.

His early research focussed on the computational principles of brain wiring before transitioning to the use of advanced high-resolution microscopy techniques to investigate pathomechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease. At UQ, his research group integrates mathematical modelling and advanced quantitative imaging techniques to uncover the mechanisms driving various infectious and neurodegenerative diseases, with the ultimate goal of developing and optimising treatments. 

GROUP LINK: https://biomedical-sciences.uq.edu.au/research/groups/molecular-and-systems-medicine