Meira van Schaik

I am an MPhil student in Clinical Neurosciences under supervision of Dr. Malpetti.

I discovered my interest in neurosciences during my BSc. Biomedical Sciences at Utrecht University. One highlight of my bachelor was my participation in the Honours Programme, which enabled me to deepen and broaden my knowledge and skills. My two Honours research internships - investigating immunotherapy for chronic pain and analysing MRI stroke data - allowed me to explore my interests in neuro-immune interactions and computational research. My bachelor thesis focused on the interplay between gut dysbiosis, immune activation, and neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease.

In my MPhil I will research the role of inflammation in frontotemporal dementia via the analysis of blood-based biomarkers and PET scans.