Natalie Ness

Natalie Ness is a Researcher in the Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London, supervised by Dr. Marco Brancaccio. Her work focuses on astrocytic circadian function and its role in Alzheimer’s disease, leveraging multiplexed imaging and genetic tools to study circadian rhythms in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. She holds an Imperial College London President’s PhD Scholarship.

Education:

• 2019–2020: MRes Bioengineering (Distinction), Imperial College London
• 2015–2019: BA Natural Sciences (Genetics), Trinity College Dublin

Her research explores astrocyte-neuronal interactions, circadian timekeeping mechanisms, and their implications for neurodegeneration. Key areas include astrocytic GABA signaling, Bmal1 gene regulation, and network-level circadian computations. Her computational models have revealed synaptic loss as a driver of Alzheimer’s-related navigational deficits.

Publications Trends: Recent work emphasizes astrocyte roles in circadian physiology, with studies on GABA dynamics, lactate biosensors, and SCN network mechanisms. Cross-disciplinary approaches combine molecular biology, imaging, and computational modeling to address neurodegenerative mechanisms.

Awards:

• Imperial College London President’s PhD Scholarship

Her research is funded by the Medical Research Council. She collaborates with the Brancaccio and Schultz labs, contributing to both experimental and computational neuroscience projects.

Labs/Teams: Active member of the Brancaccio Laboratory at Imperial’s Department of Brain Sciences, focusing on circadian neuroscience and neurodegeneration.