People

Dr Holly Spence

Dr Holly Spence
Dr Holly Spence
Dr Holly Spence

Research Fellow

About
Email Address
holly.spence1@abdn.ac.uk
Office Address
Pod 4, 3.47 Institute of Medical Sciences
Foresterhill Campus
Ashgrove Road West
AB25 2ZD

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School/Department
School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

Biography

I studied Biomedicine at Lancaster University before completing my PhD in Medical Sciences at University of Aberdeen. Here, I explored the role of brain iron in age-related cognitive decline and the relationships between brain iron and blood markers for iron and inflammation. In March 2023, I joined the Gregory Lab as a post-doctoral research fellow where I explored biomarkers for TDP-43 pathology and their relation to other pathological changes in ALS. In February 2026 I was awarded the MND Association Lady Edith Wolfson Junior Non-Clinical Fellowship for independent research at the University of Aberdeen.

My current research focuses on the integration of clinical, histopathological and multi-omics datasets to investigate the role of TDP-43 and heavy metal dysregulation in the physical biology of ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. I utilise brain imaging technologies, immunohistochemistry and metabolomics analyses, with the aim of improving precision medicine by developing paired biomarker and treatment target strategies for specific endophenotypes of ALS.

If you are interested applying for a PhD in this area of research, I welcome all informal inquiries.

Qualifications

  • PhD Medical Sciences 
    2023 - University of Aberdeen 

    "Brain iron and age-related cognitive decline"

  • Msci Biomedicine 
    2019 - Lancaster University 

Latest Publications

  • Metabolic signatures of ferritin and TDP-43 co-pathology provide a mechanistic basis for stratified therapeutic approaches in ALS

    Spence, H., Read, F., Waldron, F., Gregory, J.
    Working Papers: Preprint Papers

  • Amygdala TDP-43 pathology is associated with behavioural dysfunction and ferritin accumulation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

    Rifai, O. M., Waldron, F., O'shaughnessy, J., Read, F. L., Gilodi, M., Pastore, A., Shneider, N., Tartaglia, G. G., Zacco, E., Spence, H., Gregory, J.
    Brain Communications, vol. 8, no. 2, fcag104
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Brain Iron as a Surrogate Biomarker of Pathological TDP-43 Identifies Brain Region-Specific Signatures in Ageing, Alzheimer’s Disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

    Waldron, F., Spence, H., Taso, O. S., Read, F., Sinha, I. R., Irwin, K. E., Wong, P. C., Ling, J. P., Gregory, J.
    Working Papers: Preprint Papers

  • Skin TDP-43 pathology as a candidate biomarker for predicting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis decades prior to motor symptom onset

    Waldron, F., Langerova, T., Rahmanova, A., Read, F., Spence, H., Roberts, K., MacLeod, A., Pattle, S. B., Hanna, K., Gregory, J.
    Working Papers: Preprint Papers

  • Large-scale RNA-Seq mining reveals ciclopirox olamine induces TDP-43 cryptic exons

    Sinha, I. R., Sandal, P. S., Spence, H., Burns, G. D., Mallika, A. P., Abbasinejad, F., Irwin, K. E., Cruz, A. L. F., Wang, V., Marx, S. R., Rodríguez, J. L., Langmead, B., Gregory, J. M., Wong, P. C., Ling, J. P.
    Nature Communications, vol. 16, 6878
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

View My Publications

Prizes and Awards

September 2024 - Stefania Spanò Young Investigator Lecture Award

Research

Research Overview

My current research focuses on the integration of clinical, histopathological and multi-omics datasets to investigate the role of TDP-43 and heavy metal dysregulation in the physical biology of ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. We utilise brain imaging technologies, immunohistochemistry and multi-omics analyses, with the aim of improving precision medicine by developing paired biomarker and treatment target strategies for specific endophenotype of ALS.

Research Specialisms

  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Machine Learning
  • Medical Sciences
  • Neuroscience

Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

Current Research

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a pathologically heterogeneous disorder which is thought to be underpinned by several molecular phenotypes with differing prognosis. Therefore, lack of prior stratification for trials may limit conclusions about underlying pathobiology and therapeutic strategies. Instead, I focus on development of novel biomarkers and paired therapeutic strategies for precision medicine strategies specific to ALS endophenotype. I assess the biophysical and biochemical consequences of endophenotype specific pathological changes, including TDP-43 pathology and heavy metal dysregulation with the aim of identifying imaging and fluid biomarkers for stratification in ALS with a paired therapeutic strategy. 

Collaborations

Dr Jonathan Ling (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine)

Dr Marta Vallejo (Herriot-Watt University)

Dr. James Longden (e-therapeutics PLC, Edinburgh)

Dr Ben Middlehurst (University of Liverpool)

Professor John Quinn (University of Liverpool)

 

Publications

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