Consultant Neurologist, UCL
UCL RESEARCH TEAM
Dr Pietro Fratta
Pietro Fratta is a Consultant Neurologist and Professor of Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience at UCL. His clinical and research interests center on motor neuron diseases (MND) and RNA biology. He has been leading an independent research team since 2015 in University College London, and since 2023 has a Satellite lab at the Francis Crick Institute. His laboratory uses sequencing and visualization tools to understand disease mechanisms in patient derived tissue, iPS cells, and mouse models. He practices at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, where he established in 2015 the only Kennedy’s Disease-dedicated clinic in the UK and an MND Genetics clinic. He previously trained at the University of Milan, University of Southern California and San Raffaele Scientific Institute.
Luca Zampedri
Luca has worked as a nurse at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen square since 2004. He held permanent posts in neuropsychiatry, neuro-medical intensive care, and the local clinical research facility. In August 2015, he joined UCL’s Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases and the Motor Neurone Disease team. He coordinates clinical and research activities of the national clinical and research service dedicated to people living with KD since its establishment. He has collaborated with patient associations and international clinicians and researchers in raising awareness and improving standards of care for this rare condition. He holds postgraduate qualifications in medical anthropology, history of medicine and genomics.
Matteo Zanovello
Matteo graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Padua in 2020. He started his PhD in the same year, under the supervision of Prof Pietro Fratta, Prof Linda Greensmith, and Prof Pedro Machado. His research interests span molecular biology and genetics, with clinical application to neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases, particularly ALS, FTD, IBM, and SBMA. He was involved in discovering an unexpectedly high frequency of the SBMA genetic defect in the general population, which suggests underdiagnosis of SBMA and highlights how genetic testing may be key to including more people in clinical trials. He’s currently undertaking a Neurology Residency at the University of Perugia.
Dr Carlo Rinaldi
Carlo Rinaldi completed his medical education and residency in adult neurology in 2010 both with distinction at the University of Federico II, Naples, Italy. In 2009 he joined the Neurogenetics Branch at the National Institute of Health (Bethesda, MD, USA) under the supervision of prof. He is an Honorary Consultant Neurologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London and Principal Investigator in the recently established Oxford-Muscular Dystrophy UK Centre for Translational Neuromuscular Science Centre.
Dr Louie Lee
Dr Louie Lee is a clinical academic, with expertise in neurological physiotherapy, implementation science, and mixed methods research. He specialises in neuromuscular diseases, focusing on neuro-rehabilitation, clinical evaluation, and adaptive behaviour change. He has worked at the UCL Queen Square Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases since 2016, where he was awarded a PhD in neurosciences for his thesis entitled “From perspectives to practice: exploring self-management support for people living with neuromuscular conditions”.
Dr Dipa Jayaseelan
Dr Annalucia Darbey
Annalucia completed her PhD in Tissue Repair at The University of Edinburgh in 2018 before moving to Australia for two years to investigate Gene Therapy for endocrine disorders as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at University College London working with Professor Pietro Fratta at UCL Queens Square Institute of Neurology . Her research focuses on using innovative and exciting technologies to develop muscle specific gene therapy solutions for Motor Neuron Diseases, particularly Kennedy’s Disease. She has been fortunate to receive a number of awards whilst at UCL including a Cell & Gene Therapy Therapeutic Innovation Award, an AFM Telethon award and most recently, the 2024 Waite-Griffin SBMA Fellowship from the Kennedy’s Disease Association to support her research into the development of therapeutic strategies for Kennedy’s Disease.
Wenanlan Jin
Wenanlan completed her master degree with distinction in Neuromuscular Diseases and currently works in Fratta lab at UCL Queens Square Institute of Neurology as a PhD student and a research assistant. She works with Dr. Annalucia to develop muscle-specific gene therapy for Kennedy’s disease. Besides, she is also working on using bioinformatic methods to further understand the disease mechanism in muscles in Kennedy’s Disease.
Professor Linda Greensmith
Professor Linda Greensmith is the Head of the Department of Neuromuscular Diseases at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and a Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences and The Royal Society of Biology. She runs the Graham Watts Laboratories for Research into Motor Neuron Diseases (MND) at UCL and is the Scientific Director of The UCL Queen Square MND Centre. Her research is focused on improving our understanding of the underlying causes of motor neuron degeneration and muscle paralysis, and in developing novel therapeutic approaches for Motor Neuron Diseases including ALS and Kennedy’s Disease. Her group uses a wide range of techniques, and is recognized for their expertise in experimental models of ALS and KD and for undertaking preclinical trials, with the long term aim of translating these findings into disease modifying therapies for patients. Linda first set up the UCL KD research team in 2004 following a donation from a KD family, which kick-started the subsequent expansion of the KD team and research programme at UCL.