Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Lorestan University of Medical

Dr Zhen Fan works as a senior PET Modeller at Invicro (a Konica Minolta company) and an Honorary Research Fellow at Imperial College London. She gained her PhD in neuroimaging modelling and previously worked as a research assistant at the Faculty of medicine at Imperial College London. She possesses around 12 years of experience working with PET/MRI imaging analysis in human and preclinical trails, for which she maintains an excellent track record of publications and international awards. She worked in the development team in IQ analytics (e.g. lead on DAT-IQ and VMAT-IQ), a novel mathematical modelling to improve imaging biomarker quantification in neurodegenerative disease in Invicro. Possessing advanced knowledge of medical image modelling skills and rich working experience with PET, MRI and fMRI data in novel tracer development, discovery, observational, cross-sectional, longitudinal, blocking and drug intervention trials. She works as the Analysis Lead for both preclinical and clinical imaging projects with multiple pharmaceutical companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, Biogen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, Michael J. Fox Foundation, Axovant Sciences Inc, Lundbeck, Morphic Therapeutics, Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Curasen, Asceneuron.S.A, Heptares Therapeutics, Inflazome, Cortexyme, Yumanity Therapeutics, Origenis GmbH, Eisai, Pliant Therapeutics, Saniona et al. 1 – Invicro, Needham, MA, USA 2 – Imperial College London, London UK

Dr Faustini graduated in Medical Biotechnology in 2012 and was awarded the PhD in Technology for Health in 2020 with Excellence cum Laude. The thesis was focused on the role of Synapsin III in alpha-synuclein aggregation and in the related synaptic protein rearrangement. Currently, she is a post-doctoral fellow at the department of molecular and translational medicine of the University of Brescia. Her studies are aiming to address prodromal neurodegenerative changes of dopaminergic neurons during the onset of Parkinson’s disease in order to identify therapeutic-responsive windows in the early phases of the disease. She has published as first author in high impact peer reviewed journals in the field of Neuroscience. In 2019, she has been conferred the Telethon Research Award for Young Women Researcher in Neuroscience for her pioneering study on the role of Synapsin III in alpha-synuclein aggregation in Parkinson’s disease.

Group leader

Shane is a PhD candidate at the Edith Cowan University Centre for Precision Health in Perth, Western Australia, where his research focuses on identifying the relationships between genetics, epigenetics, and rates of clinical progression in Alzheimer’s disease. This work is conducted within the Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle cohort study of ageing and in collaboration with other similar international cohorts such as the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Shane has a background in biostatistics and Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials and is particularly interested in both the analytical complexities of disentangling the exact nature of these relationships and in how the results can be best utilised in the design of future clinical trials.

I am a neurologist and throughout my career I developed and increasing interest in neurodegenerative diseases, dementia and behavioral neurology. In order to improve my knowledge in this field during my neurology residency program, I spent 2 months as a visiting scholar at the Memory and Aging Center of the University Of California San Francisco, an enriching educational and personal experience. After I got my Neurology specialization in 2017 I had the opportunity to join the Cognitive Decline and Movement disorders Unit in Hospital del Mar where teamwork, organisation and constant learning are essential key in my daily work. I have acquired experience in imaging and CSF biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases both in research (Biodegmar project) and clinical practice. I have also participated in several research projects and clinical trials in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. I am currently working as a consultant neurologist of Cognitive Decline and Movement disorders Unit in Hospital del Mar and clinical reseracher in IMIM-Hospital del Mar and in BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center. My perspective for the near future is to pursue a PhD project focused on CSF biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases.