Dr Emma Scotter

BSc (Hons), PhD (Pharmacology)

Senior Research Fellow

In: Pharmacology » Medical Science » Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences

Biography

I am the head of the Motor Neuron Disease Lab at the Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland.

My team, in collaboration with Professors Mike Dragunow and Richard Faull, researches various aspects of Motor Neuron Disease. Model systems range from cell lines and primary cells grown from post-mortem brain and spinal cord, to those tissues themselves. Of particular interest to me and my group are cells of the blood-brain barrier, and their ability to deal with proteins which take on aberrant structures (oligomers and aggregates). My lab uses molecular pharmacology and molecular biology techniques to study the pathways by which cells recognise and respond to these aberrantly structured proteins. These include the ubiquitin-proteasome system and selective macroautophagy. Pharmacologically or genetically enhancing the ability of these systems to clear toxic proteins which accumulate in neurodegenerative disease has great therapeutic potential.

I am a University of Auckland graduate (BSc (Hons) and PhD (Pharmacology)). I was awarded a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship in 2010 to work at King's College London. I remained at King's College for four years, investigating misfolded proteins in motor neuron disease. I returned to the University of Auckland in early 2014 after being awarded an Aotearoa Fellowship by the Centre for Brain Research.

I was recently awarded a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship to support my vision of growing a national Motor Neuron Disease Research programme. I also received Marsden FastStart funding to investigate protein waste clearance in Motor Neuron Disease. My team and I recently established the NZ Motor Neuron Disease Research Network with funding from MND NZ.

Research | Current

Screening for novel compounds which promote misfolded protein clearance (collaboration with Professors Mike Dragunow and Margaret Brimble)
Characterising primary brain cells grown from the post-mortem brains of patients with motor neuron disease (collaboration with Professor Mike Dragunow)
Genetic screening of people living with motor neuron disease (collaboration with Dr. Richard Roxburgh)

Teaching | Current

MEDSCI 717- Advanced Neuroscience: Neuropharmacology
MEDSCI 307- Neuropharmacology

Postgraduate supervision

Current lab members

Dr. Deidre Macveigh, Postdoctoral Fellow (with Prof. Mike Dragunow)
Ms Christa MacDonald, Research technician
Mr Jules Devaux, Research technician
Ms Charlotte Dunne, PhD student
Ms Serey Naidoo, PhD student
Ms Maize Cao, PhD student
Ms Kyrah Thumbadoo, Pharmacology Honours student

Completions and previous

Ms Laura Nementzik, Summer student, 2018
Mr Ji Hun Yoo, Summer student, 2018
Mr Ben Zhang, Undergraduate research experience, 2018
Ms Sediqa Amin, BBMedSci Honours student, 2018
Mr Andrew Siemens, Research technician, 2016-2018
Ms Maize Cao, Summer student and Science Scholar, 2017
Ms Sarah Waters, BBMedSci Honours student, 2017
Ms Kylie Pan, Summer student, 2017
Mr James Bailey, King's College London medical elective student, 2015

I welcome enquiries from prospective Honours, Masters and PhD students and postdoctoral fellows.

Distinctions/Honours

Scotter Lab in the press

TV3's The Project 2018 on high MND rates in New Zealand
NZ Herald 2018 "Study reveals shocking death rates for Kiwis with motor neurone disease"
MND News Spring 2017 "Announcing the MND Research Network" page 3
MND News Spring 2016 "Research Update" page 5
NZ Herald 2016 "Research drives demand for donated tissue at Auckland brain bank"
Te Waha Nui (AUT) 2016 "Walking for those who can't"
Australasian Neuroscience Society 2015 Interview
Scoop 2015 "Rutherford Discovery to fund Motor Neurone Disease Research"
MND News Spring 2014 "Welcome home Dr. Scotter" page 5

Responsibilities

Director, NZ MND Research Network
Chair, Rare Genetic Brain Diseases satellite conference at Queenstown Research Week and AWCBR 2018
Steering Commitee Member, NZ MND Patient Registry
Theme Leadership Group, Brain Research New Zealand Theme 1: Neurodiscovery (Genes, Cells, Networks)

Areas of expertise

Cellular modelling of neurodegeneration
Protein quality control and degradation pathways
Motor Neuron Disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; ALS)
Frontotemporal dementia
TDP-43 proteinopathies

Selected publications and creative works (Research Outputs)

Smyth, L. C. D., Rustenhoven, J., Scotter, E. L., Schweder, P., Faull, R. L. M., Park, T. I. H., & Dragunow, M. (2018). Markers for human brain pericytes and smooth muscle cells. Journal of chemical neuroanatomy, 92, 48-60. 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2018.06.001
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/44970
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Michael Dragunow, Richard Faull, Thomas Park
Rustenhoven, J., Smith, A. M., Smyth, L. C., Jansson, D., Scotter, E. L., Swanson, M. E. V., ... Handley, R. (2018). PU.1 regulates Alzheimer's disease-associated genes in primary human microglia. Molecular neurodegeneration, 13 (1)10.1186/s13024-018-0277-1
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Michael Dragunow, Pritika Narayan, Maurice Curtis, Richard Faull, Thomas Park, Deidre Jansson, Molly Swanson
Cao, M. C., Chancellor, A., Charleston, A., Dragunow, M., & Scotter, E. L. (2018). Motor neuron disease mortality rates in New Zealand 1992-2013. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis & frontotemporal degeneration, 19 (3-4), 285-293. 10.1080/21678421.2018.1432660
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/44973
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Michael Dragunow, Maize Cao
Rustenhoven, J., Smyth, L. C., Jansson, D., Schweder, P., Aalderink, M., Scotter, E. L., ... Dragunow, M. (2018). Modelling physiological and pathological conditions to study pericyte biology in brain function and dysfunction. BMC neuroscience, 19 (1)10.1186/s12868-018-0405-4
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/43495
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Richard Faull, Michael Dragunow, Thomas Park, Deidre Jansson
Smith, B. N., Topp, S. D., Fallini, C., Shibata, H., Chen, H.-J., Troakes, C., ... Soragia-Gkazi, A. (2017). Mutations in the vesicular trafficking protein annexin A11 are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Science Translational Medicine, 9 (388)10.1126/scitranslmed.aad9157
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/35898
Scotter, E. L., Smyth, L., Bailey, J. A. W., Wong, C.-H., de Majo, M., Vance, C. A., ... Charleston, A. (2017). C9ORF72 and UBQLN2 mutations are causes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in New Zealand: a genetic and pathologic study using banked human brain tissue. Neurobiology of Aging, 49, 214.e1-214.e5. 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2016.06.019
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/42810
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Maurice Curtis, Richard Faull, Michael Dragunow, Henry Waldvogel
Jansson, D., Scotter, E., Rustenhoven, J., Coppieters, N., Smyth, L., Oldfield, R., ... Faull, R. (2016). Interferon-γ blocks signalling through PDGFRβ in human brain pericytes. Journal of Neuroinflammation, 13 (24).10.1186/s12974-016-0722-4
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/31458
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Richard Faull, Michael Dragunow, Scott Graham, Deidre Jansson
Chen, H.-J., Mitchell, J. C., Novoselov, S., Miller, J., Nishimura, A. L., Scotter, E. L., ... Shaw, C. E. (2016). The heat shock response plays an important role in TDP-43 clearance: Evidence for dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Brain, 139 (5), 1417-1432. 10.1093/brain/aww028