Neuropathology Research Laboratory
Prof Willie Stewart – MBChB, PhD, DipFMS, FRCPath, FRCP Edin (he/him)
Prof Stewart is Consultant Neuropathologist at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, and holds honorary Associate Professor status at the University of Glasgow (Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology) and the University of Pennsylvania (Department of Neurosurgery).
Prof Stewart leads an internationally regarded research laboratory engaged in multiple programs investigating the pathologies of acute and long-term survival from traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Working with the unique and comprehensive Glasgow TBI Archive, Prof Stewart’s research describes the complex neuropathology of brain injury across a range of exposures and survivals, with particular reference to the link between TBI and neurodegenerative disease. Prof Stewart directs the FIELD study, which aims to describe lifelong health and dementia risk in former soccer, and is Co-PI on the multi-centre collaborative research program CONNECT-TBI.
Dr Emma Russell – BSc, MSc, PhD (she/her)
Research Fellow
Emma started her PhD at the University of Glasgow in March 2018 and graduated in April 2022 as Dr Russell! Emma previously graduated from the University of Glasgow with a BSc (Hons) in Neuroscience, and an MSc in Stratified Medicine. The focus of her PhD research was to understand the influence traumatic brain injury (encountered during contact sport participation) has on the development of neurodegenerative disorders, such as dementia – as well as investigating the influence sport participation has on general lifelong health and wellbeing. Emma’s published papers for the FIELD study have attracted a huge amount of media attention (read more here), and continue to do so as she begins her work on FIELD:LONG (read more here).
Emma has previously conducted research at the University of Glasgow and University College London in the field of bipolar affective disorder.
Dr Shannon Gilchrist – BSc, MSc, PhD (she/her)
Research Associate
Shannon completed her PhD at the University of Portsmouth in February 2022, previously graduating from the University of Glasgow with a BSc (Hons) in Neuroscience and a MRes in Biomedical Sciences (Integrated Mammalian Biology). The focus of her PhD was to understand the mechanisms of neuroinflammation in glial cells of the central nervous system. Since graduating, Shannon was a postdoctoral research assistant at the University of Strathclyde, investigating the role of neuromodulation in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. She is now working as a postdoctoral research associate for GBIRG, carrying out research as a member of the CONNECT-TBI team.
Katie Maciver – BSc (Hons) (she/her)
Lab Technician
Katie graduated from Robert Gordon University with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Biomedical Science in 2020. Having completed the IBMS registration portfolio and gaining HCPC registration, she then went on to work as a Biomedical Scientist in a busy Clinical Biochemistry laboratory within NHS Highland. There she worked with a variety of automated and semi-automated analytical systems for patient sample analysis.
Dr Lauren E. Black- MSci (Hons), PhD (she/her)
Research Associate
After graduating with an MSci in Veterinary Biosciences from the University of Glasgow in 2018, Lauren worked towards a PhD in Veterinary Medicine (research) at the University of Glasgow which was completed in late 2023. Her MSci work conducted at the Moredun Research Institute studied the pathology caused by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii and her PhD investigated the pathological mechanisms of canine degenerative myelopathy (DM), a naturally occurring neurodegenerative disease that has genetic, clinical and histological similarities to some forms of human familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS associated with SOD1mutations).
Lauren is now part of GBIRG but has also contributed to studies investigating myelin in models of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease and Guillain-Barré syndrome in addition to other veterinary related work.
Natalie Jenkins – BSc, MEd, MBPsS (she/her)
PhD Student
Natalie is into the second year of her PhD with us; the focus of which is to examine long-term brain health outcomes following domestic abuse related head injury. Through this research, Natalie is hoping to highlight an important and understudied population in dementia research.
Prior to joining GBIRG, Natalie obtained a BSc in Neuroscience and an MEd in Psychology. After completing her master’s degree, she began working in clinical research joining Edinburgh Dementia Prevention where she developed an interest in brain health and modifiable risk factors, with a particular emphasis on traumatic brain injuries.
Bailey Rae (they/them)
Senior Administrator
Bailey has worked in a variety of public-facing management roles throughout a colourful career, beginning in 2012 as a writer for film and theatre publications.
They then spent many years working for Oxfam in the city of its origin (Oxford) recruiting and training volunteers as part of several fundraising initiatives before relocating to London to lead public outreach strategies as a Community Manager for a board games publisher.
Bailey has been part of the GBIRG team since 2020, a key part of the CONNECT-TBI project, working to help the smooth running of everyday operations for the researchers, as well as increasing public engagement to raise awareness of the latest studies. Bailey has just begun a new role supporting the Data Hub Core of the TBI-REPORTER project.
Lily Neill (she/her)
Masters Student
Lily is a Neuroscience MSci student joining us for 12 months from the University of Glasgow. She is currently working on a project alongside Dr Shannon Gilchrist, investigating patterns of amyloid plaque in cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (encountered during contact sports participation).
Holly Fyvie (she/her)
Masters Student
Holly is a neuroscience student from the University of Glasgow and has joined us to complete her MSci year. She is currently working on her MSci project, investigating health outcomes following traumatic brain injury, under the supervision of Dr Emma Russell.
Current Students
N Jenkins (2021 – present)
H Fyvie (2023 – present)
L Neill (2023 – present)
Alumni
PhD
E Russell (2018 – 2021)
H Morgan (2015-2020)
J Hay (2013-2018, part-time)
B Mouzin (2009-2013)
V Johnson (2008-2012)
MSc
V Campbell (2016)
L Brunton (2015)
BSc/BSc(MedSci)
L Chambers (2018)
N Garzon Loor (2018)
M Balmer (2018)
C McCann (2016)
G Crosbie (2016)
J Carroll (2016)
G Stark (2016)
R Waite (2015)
J Daley (2015)
A Unsworth (2015)
D Robinson (2015)
C Bryant-Craig (2015)
J McGovern (2014)
J Kang (2013)
S Ansell (2012)
F Begbie (2011)
R Scott Pye (2011)
D Smith (2010)
SY Foo (2010)
Visiting Students
M Raranga
E Bickel