Bionow Neuroscience Conference

Pamela Shaw is Professor of Neurology at the University of Sheffield and Director of: the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN); the NIHR Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre for Translational Neuroscience and the Sheffield Care and Research Centre for Motor Neuron Disorders.   She is a Clinician Scientist in Neurology, formerly a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow and an NIHR Senior Investigator. 
 
Her work investigates genetic, molecular and neurochemical mechanisms underlying ALS/MND; identifies new therapeutic targets and translates new neuroprotective and symptomatic treatment approaches into the clinic, including genetic therapy approaches. She has active programmes in systematic biosample collection and biomarker identification in ALS/MND.  From 2009-2016 she initiated and led the national UK Clinical Studies Group for ALS/MND, a clinical research and trials network which links 23 ALS/MND Care and Research Centres.  Prof. Shaw has taken part in more than 25 ALS/MND clinical trials, including roles as Chief Investigator and Steering Committee member.
 
She has authored more than 570 publications (H-index 120). Her research is funded by NIHR, the UK Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, MND Association, MyName’5 Doddie Foundation, Fight MND (Australia) and Department of Defense (US), EU and biotech/ pharmaceutical industry partners.  
 
Pamela Shaw has received multiple national and international awards for her work including:   DBE for Services to Neuroscience; American Academy of Neurology Sheila Essey Award; International ALS/MND Alliance Forbes Norris Award; Royal College of Physicians Jean Hunter Award; FMedSci; Fellowship American Association for the Advancement of Science; ABN Medallist-2019; Queen’s Anniversary Award to SITraN-2019; British Neuroscience Association Outstanding Contribution Award 2022.
 

Fiona Menzies is currently Associate Vice President, and Head of Proteostasis at Eli Lilly. She leads an internal drug discovery team, alongside collaborations with biotech and academic partners. Her work focusses on identifying and developing targets in protein degradation and homeostasis for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Fiona’s career has been dedicated to understanding the underlying mechanisms of neurodegeneration. She obtained her PhD from the University of Sheffield with Prof Dame Pamela Shaw, investigating pathogenic mechanisms of ALS, followed by a visiting fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (USA) working on Drosophila models of Parkinson’s Disease. She then joined the lab of Prof. David Rubinsztein at University of Cambridge, studying autophagy modulation as a therapeutic strategy for neurodegeneration and the contribution of autophagy perturbation to the disease pathogenesis.