Dr Maria Ashioti
I am currently a senior lecturer in the department of Life Sciences at the University of Westminster. My academic career began when I completed my undergraduate degree in Human Physiology at the University of Greenwich in 2002. During the final year of my degree, I developed a keen interest in neuroscience and in particular stroke research. I then undertook a MSc in Neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London. My research interest in the field of translational neuropharmacology developed during this time and then embarked upon a PhD in 2003 within the department of neuroimaging working on developing and screening potential pharmacological neuroprotective agents in pre-clinical models of stroke with MRI at the Institute of Psychiatry. I completed my PhD in 2008 entitled 'A multimodal approach to assessing the neuroprotective efficacy of a novel 5-HT1A agonist in preclinical models of transient cerebral ischaemia'. I remained within the department for a few months as a postdoctoral researcher before accepting a position as a lecturer at the University of Westminster. My current research is focussed on developing in vitro models of cerebral ischaemia and investigating the potential neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of endogenous peptides such as Urocortin using the Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation model of cerebral ischaemia in neuronal cell lines. In 2011, I achieved the Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education and become a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and in 2017 I completed the MA in Higher Education becoming a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I currently run and teach both of the neuroscience-based modules based within the BSc Pharmacology and Physiology course and In 2022 I was promoted to the role of Director of Quality for the School of Life Sciences.