Our Researchers

Joanne Nash

Dr. Joanne E. Nash is an Associate Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Toronto where she began her independent research career in 2005. She leads a research group that is focused on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases. The ultimate goal of her research is to reveal novel therapeutic targets so that more effective therapies can be developed.

Dr. Nash’s research group employs a multi-disciplinary approach, combining molecular and cellular biology, electrophysiology, biochemistry, behavioural studies in rodents, and genetic manipulation to address specific questions related to neurodegenerative diseases.

Recently, Dr. Nash has shown that mitochondrial dysfunction is central to neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease, and is currently testing potential neuroprotective agents to prevent this mitopathology.

Dr. Nash has also recently developed and characterised two animal models of Parkinson’s disease, which have been used to delineate the synaptic mechanisms underlying symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, as well as the side-effect underlying L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia.

Dr. Nash completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Aberdeen (UK) in Pharmacology in 1995, and obtained her Masters and PhD degrees in Neuroscience at the University of Manchester (UK) in 1996 and 1999, respectively. She was awarded two highly prestigious postdoctoral fellowships from the Wellcome Trust and the Michael J. Fox Foundation in 1999 and 2003, respectively.

Since beginning her independent research career, she has received funding from Natural Science and Engineering Research Council, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Research Fund, Parkinson’s Society Canada, Michael J. Fox Foundation, the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, and the University of Toronto. She has also received 2 awards for her research from the University of Toronto.