Paula McClean

Dr. Paula McClean is a Senior Lecturer at Ulster University, jointly affiliated with the School of Medicine and the Faculty of Life & Health Sciences. She is an active researcher and educator with a strong focus on neuroscience, Alzheimer's disease, and metabolic disorders.

Research Interests: Her work centers on understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's disease. She investigates how insulin signaling dysregulation contributes to cognitive decline and explores pharmacological interventions such as GLP-1 analogs and GIP receptor antagonists. Her research also delves into the impact of diet-induced obesity and inflammation on brain health.

Publications and Impact: Dr. McClean has published extensively in high-impact journals, with her work cited over 3,800 times. Her publications span neuroscience, pharmacology, and endocrinology, often employing mouse models to explore therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's and metabolic diseases.

Awards and Recognition: She has received prestigious accolades including:

• Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) – 2024
• Distinguished Collaborative Education Excellence Fellowship – 2023

Research Projects and Funding: Dr. McClean currently leads or co-investigates multiple active projects funded by bodies such as Invest Northern Ireland and Alzheimer’s Research UK. These include:

• Vasimmune Compound 1 (VIC-1) – an immunomodulatory polysaccharide for Alzheimer’s therapy
• ALCOME – Acoustic and Linguistic markers Of Cognitive dEcline in dementia
• iMPROVE – a multi-omics personalized medicine initiative

She is also a contributor to the UK Biobank dataset on multimorbidity trends and is involved in the Personalised Medicine Centre Multi-Omics Lab (PMC-MOL).