Constanza Avalos Orellana
Academic and Work Experience Prior to Sept 2023 Programme Start
I completed my undergraduate studies at Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Chile, graduating with a BSc in Engineering and a Bioengineering Professional Degree. After a gap year, I pursued a Master’s degree in Biomedical and Molecular Sciences Research at King’s College London, completing a six-month research project under the supervision of Dr. Matthew Stroud. Following my studies, I worked as a research assistant at the Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat) and the Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaiso (CINV)
PhD Programme- Year 1- MRes and Project Rotations
During my first rotation, I worked under Prof. Andrea Streit to investigate the spatio-temporal localization of border located undecided progenitors (BLUPs) in early chick embryo neurodevelopment, examining transcription factors expression defined by RNAseq.
In my second rotation, I joined Prof. Rachael Pearson’s Lab to evaluate the use of nanofibre scaffolds for enhanced retinal ganglion cell survival within retinal organoids for modelling purposes.
Finally, under the supervision of Dr. Joaquim Nunes Vieira, I explored the role of SLIT/ROBO signalling in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) during heart development and repair.
PhD Programme- Years 2 to 4 - Doctoral Studies
During my PhD project, I will be co-supervised by Prof. Robin Ali and Prof. Rachael Pearson’s which will focus on enhancing retinal ganglion cell survival and organoid structure and function by integrating vasculature and optic nerve formation in human retinal organoids for modelling purposes.
Human pluripotent stem cell-derived retinal organoids (hROs) offer a promising approach for studying the retina, yet current culture methods produce variable an imperfect structures, showing increased disorganization and retinal ganglion cell loss over time, limiting their utility as an accurate representation of retinal development and (dys)function. To address these challenges, I aim to develop an advanced hRO model by incorporating biomaterials to create a pseudo-optic nerve tract and introduce vascularization.
The approach taken is expected to improve the maturity and functionality of the inner retinal structure and address the current limitations in hRO models related to RGC death and structural integrity in long-term culture.
To achieve this, three main goals have been set: (1) Develop the use of biomaterials to produce a PDMS-nanofibreplatform for the provision of pseudo-optic nerve tracks to support RGC survival and inner retinal structure/function, (2) introduce vascularization into hROs to enhance the viability, and (3) assess the retinal function in hROs grown using the methods defined in the previous aims.
Developing an optimised hRO model for detailed studies of the retina offer a reliable platform to investigate not only retinal development and function in health but also a more accurate description of disease mechanisms using patient-derived cell lines.
