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Dr Emily Fletcher

Senior Research Fellow

Emily Fletcher

Senior Research Fellow

BSc (Hons) MRes PhD

emily.fletcher@telethonkids.org.au

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-fletcher-phd/

Emily’s focus is on high-grade glioma, the most malignant brain cancer that affects adults and children and by training she is a neuroscientist. During her career she has exclusively studied neurological and developmental disorders that effect children. She has committed to making a significant contribution to generating new and critical knowledge by working at word-class universities including the University of Cambridge, Columbia University and University College London.

Using her skills, knowledge base, and leadership she wants to bring experts from the cancer and neuroscience fields together to develop better and more innovative ways to deliver care that improves brain cancer patient outcomes.

Find Dr Fletcher on ORCID.

Selected publications:

Mende M*, Fletcher E.V*, Pierce J.P*, Schierberl K.C, Weinrich J.A, Pagiazitis J.G, Mendelsohn A, Francesconi A, Edwards R.H, Milner T.A, van Roessel P.J, Rajadhyaksha A.M, Mentis G.Z and Kaltschmidt J.A. Sensory-derived glutamate controls the GABAergic differentiation of presynaptic inhibitory terminals in mouse spinal cord. Neuron. 2016. *first authors.

Fletcher E.V, Simon C.M, Pagiazitis J, Chalif J, Vukojicic A, Wang X, Drobac E and Mentis G.Z. Reduced sensory synaptic excitation impairs motor neuron function via Kv2.1 in spinal muscular atrophy. Nature Neuroscience. 2017.

Desiderio S, Vermeiren S, Van Campenhout C, Kricha S, Malki E, Richts S, Fletcher E.V, Vanwelden T, Schmidt B.Z, Henningfeld K.A, Pieler T, Woods C.G, Nagy V, Verfaillie C, Bellefroid E.J. Prdm12 Directs Nociceptive Sensory Neuron Development by Regulating the Expression of the NGF Receptor TrkA. Cell Reports. 2019.

Vukojicic A, Delestree N, Fletcher E.V, Pagiazitis J.G, Sankaranarayanan S, Yednock T.A, Barres B.A, Mentis G.Z The classical complement pathway mediates microglia-dependent remodeling of spinal motor circuits during development and in spinal muscular atrophy. Cell Reports. 2019.

Lee M.C, Nahorski M.S, Hockley J.R.F, Lu V.B, Ison G, Pattison L, Callejo, G, Stouffer K, Fletcher E.V, Brown C, Wheeler D, Drissi I, Ernfors P, Menon D, Reimann F, St John Smith E, Woods C.G. Human labor pain is influenced by the voltage-gated potassium channel KV6.4 subunit. Cell Reports. 2020.

Projects

The role of voltage-gated sodium channels in high grade glioma

Every year, around 1,500 Australians are diagnosed with brain cancer, and many of them die due to a lack of effective treatments.

Education and Qualifications
  • Ph.D. Molecular Neuroscience University College London, UK         
  • Master of Research Biological Sciences University of Manchester, UK    
  • B.Sc. (Hons) Biomedical Sciences   University of Sheffield, UK    
Awards/Honours
  • 2022 – 2026, Ascend Fellow, The Kids Research Institute Australia, Perth, Australia.
  • 2019 – 2020 Ethan Davies fellow, Perth, Australia.
  • 2019 – 2020 Medical Research Council/Brain Research UK Clinical Neuroscience PhD studentship, London, UK.
Active Collaborations
  • Understanding neuron-to-high grade glioma cell communication. Professor Steve Petrou, Florey Institute Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne.
  • Understanding the genetic landscape of high-grade glioma tumours. Professor Alistair Forrest, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Perth, and Ganessan Kichenadasse, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, South Australia.
  • Investigating the role of ion channels in high-grade glioma. Dr Vanessa Fear, Translational genetics, The Kids Research Institute Australia, Perth.