Louise Serpell is a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Sussex, UK and a Director of Sussex Neuroscience. Her work focusses on protein self-assembly and misfolding at the heart of neurodegenerative diseases and amyloidosis. Prof. Serpell has been conducting research to understand neurodegenerative diseases for over 25 years. She did her PhD in Oxford in 1992-1995 and then spent two years in Toronto, Canada as a postdoc, before returning to work in Cambridge where she set up an independent research group. She has been working at the University of Sussex for the past 18 years and has a particular interest in protein self-assembly. A major aim of her research group is to understand the underlying causes of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Her research group Serpell Lab uses a highly multidisciplinary approach to investigate these questions incorporating a fibrous protein structure determination and neuroscience to examine the protein related mechanisms that lead to AD.
“In the UK, only 21-25% of science research grant applications are successful, meaning that over 75% are rejected…Additionally, the system drives competition, leading to inequalities. Managing a work-life balance is more difficult when you are constantly being made to feel that you could achieve more if only you worked more.”