Ilina Moitra

I am a Research Assistant at the Drosophila Connectomics group and am part of the team currently working on the first-ever synaptic resolution whole adult fruit fly CNS connectome. I am inspired to decode the mechanisms underlying brain function in health and disease, particularly by employing computational and data analysis-based approaches. I have wide-ranging interest areas within neuroscience and also enjoy teaching, scientific journalism, and public outreach. I am a trainer/training lead/course contributer with the Bioinformatics Training Unit here at the university and part of the editorial team at BluSci. Previously, I obtained my MRes in Neuroscience from the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS), Newcastle University and my BSc (Hons) in Neuroscience from the Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology (NPP) , University College London (UCL). My MRes curriculum focused on the themes of bioinformatics, medical genetics, and neuroscience and my dissertation research project at the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre (PI: Prof Volker Straub) entailed investigating genes and cellular pathways involved in neuromuscular disorders. Here, I also worked with Software Carpentries. At UCL, I completed a laboratory-based dissertation at the Institute of Neurology (PI: Prof Sir John Hardy) investigating the pathways of autophagy and mitophagy in Parkinson's Disease by employing Polygenic Risk Scoring and a literature-based dissertation at the Institute of Neurology discussing neuroinflammation and the role of glia in dementia (PI: Prof Jennifer Pocock). At UCL, I also worked as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Healthy Ageing and served as the President of the UCL Neuroscience Society and the founder and Chief Editor of its neuroscience magazine.