Research

Learning more about frontotemporal dementia

‘Treating dementia has many challenges,’ says Melissa. 

But one of the main challenges is that symptoms usually appear after years of things not working properly in brain cells. 

‘So, by the time a patient gets a diagnosis, they usually have considerable brain cell loss.’

Melissa is part of a team led by Leeanne McGurk, an Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Research Leader Fellow. 

They study frontotemporal dementia, one of the less common types of dementia that often first affects a person’s personality, behaviour or language. 

Clogged brain cells 

‘When we look at the brain cells of people diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, we see they are clogged with clumps of protein – a bit like clogged arteries in heart disease,’ says Melissa. 

Clogged brain cells cannot transmit information and eventually die.

The focus of Melissa’s work is TDP.43, one of the main proteins found in these clumps. 

Previous research by Leeanne has shown that tankyrase, another protein, attaches to TDP-43 and accelerates its build-up. 

Melissa wants to understand how tankyrase attaches, and how this then leads to disease. 

‘To do this, I study fruit flies that have been manipulated to have human TDP-43. 

‘They share much of the same DNA to humans and, because they live up to 80 days, I can watch disease happen over a lifetime.’ 
 

Motivation for dementia research

Melissa’s studies are inspired by her own personal experience with dementia. 

Just like you, many scientists have family and friends that have been affected by dementia and want to make a difference. 

‘During my undergraduate studies in biomedical science, I worked part time as a carer for Charlie, who was in his 80s and had Alzheimer’s disease. 

‘He introduced me to classic films, jazz, golf and World War Two poetry, and told me thousands of stories. He has been a huge motivation for me.’ 

Sharing skills and knowledge

Melissa says one of the most satisfying aspects of her work is sharing skills and knowledge with other members of the team. 

She’s gathering knowledge and techniques in this collaborative environment. 

‘For example, I’m learning how to work with human samples because it will be important to find out if what we see in our fruit flies is true for human disease.’ 

Melissa is always looking ahead to the future, and she wants Alzheimer’s Society supporters to draw hope from research. 

The fact that you are reading this now, means that you are doing your very best to support people with dementia

‘You are informing yourself about the latest breakthroughs in medicine, science and research.’