Dr Talitha Kerrigan is a neurophysiologist and stem cell biologist with a particular interest in the role of glia in neuro-inflammation in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Talitha completed her degree in 2004 in Anatomical Sciences at the University of Bristol. She then moved to the University of Leeds where she completed her PhD in 2008 in the lab of Dr Hugh Pearson. During this time her research focused on the physiological role of the Amyloid-β protein in modulating K⁺ channel function and underlying mechanisms of K⁺ channel modulation in Alzheimer’s disease. She then moved back to the University of Bristol where she worked with Professor Kei Cho (2010-2012), investigating the effects of acute stress on synaptic plasticity and its underlying effects on the mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease. Subsequently, she joined Professor Andrew Randall and Dr Jonathan Brown (2012-2015) first at the University of Bristol and then at the University of Exeter in 2014. During this time her work focused on the altered intrinsic excitability in transgenic mouse models of progressive amyloidopathy.

She is currently working at the Bristol Medical School (Translational Health Sciences) as a Senior Research Associate, whilst working as honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter Medical School. Her current research focuses on the dynamic role of astrocyte secreted apolipoprotein E4 in Alzheimer’s disease using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from donor patients as well as mechanisms of Amyloid-β clearance and neuronal function from patient derived stem cells. In conjunction, she is developing new techniques for making stem cell derived microglia as well as investigating the role of microglia in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease.