Personal profile
Biography
Mandy Jackson graduated with a 1st class Honours degree in Molecular Biology from The University of Edinburgh before completing her DPhil in The Institute of Molecular Medicine at The University of Oxford. Following a postdoctoral research position at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA she returned to The University of Edinburgh having been awarded a Caledonian Research Fellowship. She was appointed as a lecturer within The School of Biomedical Sciences in 2009 and promoted to senior lecturer in 2012.
My research in a nutshell
The cerebellum is the part of the brain important for maintaining balance and coordinated movement. My lab is particularly interested in a group of inherited diseases (spinocerebellar ataxias) where patients lose the ability to coordinate their movement due to a change in the activity and then subsequent death of cells within the cerebellum. Using a variety of techniques we are investigating what cellular processes underlie the decline in cerebellar function and with this information attempting to develop therapeutic interventions to improve the physical wellbeing of individuals afflicted with SCA.
Research Interests
Cerebellar physiology and Purkinje cell dysfunction in disease
Teaching
Undergraduate
Year 1: Medical Biology 1
Year 4: Neurotransmitters in Action, Neurodegeneration, obesity and cancer: genetics and beyond, Membrane Biology, Honours Medical Sciences, Honours Research Projects
Postgraduate
MSc by Research Integrative Neuroscience
Administrative Roles
Course organiser - Biomedical Sciences 2
Board of Examiners - Honours Medical Sciences
Board of Examiners - Pre Honours Biomedical Sciences
Academic advisor
Special circumstances committee - Pre Honours
Research Groups
Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences
Research students
Yvonne Clarkson 2006-2010
Daumante Suminaite 2012 - 2016
Jilly Hope 2013 - 2017
Brenda Murage 2017 - 2022
Qualifications
BSc (Hons) Molecular Biology (1st class), The University of Edinburgh
DPhil, The University of Oxford
External positions
Research Committee Member, MND Scotland
Review Panel Member, MRC Harwell
Editorial Board Member, Scientific Reports
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Automated gait analysis indicates efficacy of T-type calcium channel inhibition for mitigation of disrupted calcium signalling in an SCA5 mouse model
Suminaite, D., Talib, N. F., Pettegree, S. J., Tan, H. C. G., Odey, Y. L., Perkins, E. M., Lyndon, A. R., Skehel, P. A. & Jackson, M., 1 Jul 2025, In: Scientific Reports. 15, 20990.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Spinal cord neurone loss and foot placement changes in a rat knock-in model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Type 8
Murage, B., Tan, H., Mashimo, T., Jackson, M. & Skehel, P. A., 6 Jun 2024, In: Brain Communications. 6, 3, fcae184.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
MTSS1/Src family kinase Dysregulation Underlies Multiple Inherited Ataxias
Brown, A. S., Meera, P., Altindag, B., Chopra, R., Perkins, E., Paul, S., Scoles, D. R., Tarapore, E., Magri, J., Huang, H., Jackson, M., Shakkottai, V. G., Otis, T. S., Pulst, S. M., Atwood, S. X. & Oro, A. E., 26 Dec 2018, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Loss of cerebellar glutamate transporters EAAT4 and GLAST differentially affects the spontaneous firing pattern and survival of Purkinje cells
Perkins, E., Clarkson, Y., Suminaite, D., Lyndon, A. R., Tanaka, K., Rothstein, J. D., Skehel, P., Wyllie, D. & Jackson, M., 8 May 2018, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Human Molecular Genetics.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
A Bi-fluorescence complementation system to detect associations between the Endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria
Harmon, M., Larkman, P., Hardingham, G., Jackson, M. & Skehel, P., 12 Dec 2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 1, 17467.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile
Projects
- 7 Finished
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Characterization of a new rat MND model
Skehel, P. (Principal Investigator) & Jackson, M. (Co-investigator)
1/03/18 → 31/12/18
Project: Research
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Elucidating the aetiology of SCA5 as a basis for development of therapies.
Jackson, M. (Principal Investigator)
15/10/12 → 14/10/15
Project: Research
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IDENTIFICATION OF FACTORS INVOLVED INNPURKINJE CELL DYSFUNCTION AND DEATH
Jackson, M. (Principal Investigator)
10/01/11 → 9/12/15
Project: Research
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Role of Beta-lll Spectrin in Spinocerebellar Ataxia type 5
Jackson, M. (Principal Investigator)
1/03/10 → 31/08/14
Project: Research
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Cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate the EAAT4 - a neuronal glutamate transporter
Jackson, M. (Principal Investigator)
9/05/06 → 31/08/14
Project: Research