The Parish laboratory has a broad research interest relating to disease modelling and repairing the injured brain. Her research team places a strong emphasis on understanding neural development, with the idea that repairing the injured brain will require recapitulation of many of these early events. Consequently, there are a number of major research themes running within the laboratory, including:

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• Improving our understanding of neural development;

• Molecular mechanisms underlying axonal targeting and synaptogenesis

• Establishing protocols for directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells;

• The use of stem-cell derived neurons for cell-replacement therapy

• Strategies to improve graft survival, integration and function

• Bioengineering scaffolds to support neural transplant

 

Research within the group primarily focuses on the development of midbrain dopamine neurons and their transplantation into models of Parkinson’s disease, yet also branches into the generation of other neuronal populations for grafting into various disease models including stroke.