
Overview
Background
Neurologist
Dr McCombe graduated in Medicine from UQ and completed a Science degree for medical students. She then trained as a neurologist in Sydney, at Prince Henry and Prince of Wales Hospitals. She obtained a PhD from the University of Sydney. She obtained experience in Neurophysiology in Cleveland and then returned to UQ as a post-doctoral fellow. She worked for some years as a research fellow in Neuroimmunology and was an NHMRc SRF. Later she resumed clinical practice as a neurologist, and contimued her research as an NHMRC Practitioner Fellow. She is currentlyProfessor and Head of the Royal Brisbane Clinical school in the School of Medicine and Co-head of the Brain and Mental Health Theme at the UQ Centre for Clinical Research.
Availability
- Professor Pamela McCombe is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science, The University of Queensland
- Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and Medical Science, The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Sydney
- Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Research interests
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Biomarkers and heterogeneity in ALS
One of the challenges of ALS is understanding disease heterogeneity. Our work studies the variability of patients by detailed clinical, laboratory and genetic studies, and by identifying biomarkers that are associated with disease. We use a range of techniques including neurophysiology, MRI, metabolic studies, genetic studies, immune markers and biochemical studies including proteomics. We are using this information to analyse whether patients can be assigned into subgroups and to correlated with survival.
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Inflammatory neuropathy studies
This is an ongoing study of the immunological basis and genetic basis of acute and chronic inflammatory neuropathy
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Pregnancy and MS
This study is exploring the short and long term effects of pregnancy in multiple sclerosis. This includes the clinical effects of pregnancy and the effects on gene expression and methylation
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Immunology of stroke
This study involves documenting the immune responses after human stroke and determining the significance of these responses.
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Neuromuscular disease
This work is based at the Neuromuscular clinic at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, and involves correlation of genotype and phenotype of inherited neuromuscular disease
Works
Search Professor Pamela McCombe’s works on UQ eSpace
2022
Journal Article
Author Correction: Common and rare variant association analyses in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identify 15 risk loci with distinct genetic architectures and neuron-specific biology
van Rheenen, Wouter, van der Spek, Rick A. A., Bakker, Mark K., van Vugt, Joke J. F. A., Hop, Paul J., Zwamborn, Ramona A. J., de Klein, Niek, Westra, Harm-Jan, Bakker, Olivier B., Deelen, Patrick, Shireby, Gemma, Hannon, Eilis, Moisse, Matthieu, Baird, Denis, Restuadi, Restuadi, Dolzhenko, Egor, Dekker, Annelot M., Gawor, Klara, Westeneng, Henk-Jan, Tazelaar, Gijs H. P., van Eijk, Kristel R., Kooyman, Maarten, Byrne, Ross P., Doherty, Mark, Heverin, Mark, Al Khleifat, Ahmad, Iacoangeli, Alfredo, Shatunov, Aleksey, Ticozzi, Nicola ... SLAP Consortium (2022). Author Correction: Common and rare variant association analyses in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identify 15 risk loci with distinct genetic architectures and neuron-specific biology. Nature Genetics, 54 (3), 361-361. doi: 10.1038/s41588-022-01020-3
2022
Journal Article
Functional characterisation of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis risk locus GPX3/TNIP1
Restuadi, Restuadi, Steyn, Frederik J., Kabashi, Edor, Ngo, Shyuan T., Cheng, Fei-Fei, Nabais, Marta F., Thompson, Mike J., Qi, Ting, Wu, Yang, Henders, Anjali K., Wallace, Leanne, Bye, Chris R., Turner, Bradley J., Ziser, Laura, Mathers, Susan, McCombe, Pamela A., Needham, Merrilee, Schultz, David, Kiernan, Matthew C., van Rheenen, Wouter, van den Berg, Leonard H., Veldink, Jan H., Ophoff, Roel, Gusev, Alexander, Zaitlen, Noah, McRae, Allan F., Henderson, Robert D., Wray, Naomi R., Giacomotto, Jean and Garton, Fleur C. (2022). Functional characterisation of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis risk locus GPX3/TNIP1. Genome Medicine, 14 (1) 7, 7. doi: 10.1186/s13073-021-01006-6
2022
Book Chapter
Biofluid biomarkers of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Holdom, Cory J., Steyn, Frederik J., Henderson, Robert D., McCombe, Pamela A., Rogers, Mary-Louise and Ngo, Shyuan T. (2022). Biofluid biomarkers of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurodegenerative diseases biomarkers: towards translating research to clinical practice. (pp. 263-306) edited by Philip V. Peplow, Bridget Martinez and Thomas A. Gennarelli. New York, United States: Springer . doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1712-0_11
2021
Journal Article
Common and rare variant association analyses in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identify 15 risk loci with distinct genetic architectures and neuron-specific biology
van Rheenen, Wouter, van der Spek, Rick A. A., Bakker, Mark K., van Vugt, Joke J. F. A., Hop, Paul J., Zwamborn, Ramona A. J., de Klein, Niek, Westra, Harm-Jan, Bakker, Olivier B., Deelen, Patrick, Shireby, Gemma, Hannon, Eilis, Moisse, Matthieu, Baird, Denis, Restuadi, Restuadi, Dolzhenko, Egor, Dekker, Annelot M., Gawor, Klara, Westeneng, Henk-Jan, Tazelaar, Gijs H. P., van Eijk, Kristel R., Kooyman, Maarten, Byrne, Ross P., Doherty, Mark, Heverin, Mark, Al Khleifat, Ahmad, Iacoangeli, Alfredo, Shatunov, Aleksey, Ticozzi, Nicola ... SLAP Consortium (2021). Common and rare variant association analyses in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identify 15 risk loci with distinct genetic architectures and neuron-specific biology. Nature Genetics, 53 (12), 1636-1648. doi: 10.1038/s41588-021-00973-1
2021
Journal Article
Venous creatinine as a biomarker for loss of fat‐free mass and disease progression in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Holdom, Cory J., Janse van Mantgem, Mark R., van Eijk, Ruben P.A., Howe, Stephanie L., van den Berg, Leonard H., McCombe, Pamela A., Henderson, Robert D., Ngo, Shyuan T. and Steyn, Frederik J. (2021). Venous creatinine as a biomarker for loss of fat‐free mass and disease progression in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. European Journal of Neurology, 28 (11) ene.15003, 3615-3625. doi: 10.1111/ene.15003
2021
Journal Article
Phase 1b dose-escalation, safety, and pharmacokinetic study of IC14, a monoclonal antibody against CD14, for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Henderson, Robert D., Agosti, Jan M., McCombe, Pamela A., Thorpe, Kathryn, Heggie, Susan, Heshmat, Saman, Appleby, Mark W., Ziegelaar, Brian W., Crowe, David T. and Redlich, Garry L. (2021). Phase 1b dose-escalation, safety, and pharmacokinetic study of IC14, a monoclonal antibody against CD14, for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Medicine, 100 (42), e27421. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000027421
2021
Journal Article
Efficacy of Cladribine Tablets as a Treatment for People With Multiple Sclerosis: Protocol for the CLOBAS Study (Cladribine, a Multicenter, Long-term Efficacy and Biomarker Australian Study)
Maltby, Vicki E, Lea, Rodney A, Monif, Mastura, Fabis-Pedrini, Marzena J, Buzzard, Katherine, Kalincik, Tomas, Kermode, Allan G, Taylor, Bruce, Hodgkinson, Suzanne, McCombe, Pamela, Butzkueven, Helmut, Barnett, Michael and Lechner-Scott, Jeannette (2021). Efficacy of Cladribine Tablets as a Treatment for People With Multiple Sclerosis: Protocol for the CLOBAS Study (Cladribine, a Multicenter, Long-term Efficacy and Biomarker Australian Study). JMIR Research Protocols, 10 (10) e24969, e24969. doi: 10.2196/24969
2021
Journal Article
Cytokines as a marker of central nervous system autoantibody associated epilepsy
Gillinder, Lisa, McCombe, Pamela, Powell, Tamara, Hartel, Gunter, Gillis, David, Rojas, Ingrid Leal and Radford, Kristen (2021). Cytokines as a marker of central nervous system autoantibody associated epilepsy. Epilepsy Research, 176 106708, 1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2021.106708
2021
Journal Article
Low plasma hyaluronan is associated with faster functional decline in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Holdom, Cory J., Ngo, Shyuan T., McCombe, Pamela A., Henderson, Robert D. and Steyn, Frederik J. (2021). Low plasma hyaluronan is associated with faster functional decline in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration, 23 (1-2), 1-7. doi: 10.1080/21678421.2021.1918721
2021
Journal Article
MRI patterns distinguish AQP4 antibody positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder from multiple sclerosis
Clarke, Laura, Arnett, Simon, Bukhari, Wajih, Khalilidehkordi, Elham, Jimenez Sanchez, Sofia, O'Gorman, Cullen, Sun, Jing, Prain, Kerri M., Woodhall, Mark, Silvestrini, Roger, Bundell, Christine S., Abernethy, David A., Bhuta, Sandeep, Blum, Stefan, Boggild, Mike, Boundy, Karyn, Brew, Bruce J., Brownlee, Wallace, Butzkueven, Helmut, Carroll, William M., Chen, Cella, Coulthard, Alan, Dale, Russell C., Das, Chandi, Fabis-Pedrini, Marzena J., Gillis, David, Hawke, Simon, Heard, Robert, Henderson, Andrew P. D. ... Broadley, Simon A. (2021). MRI patterns distinguish AQP4 antibody positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder from multiple sclerosis. Frontiers in Neurology, 12 722237, 722237. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2021.722237
2021
Journal Article
Natalizumab versus fingolimod in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a subgroup analysis from three international cohorts
Sharmin, Sifat, Lefort, Mathilde, Andersen, Johanna Balslev, Leray, Emmanuelle, Horakova, Dana, Havrdova, Eva Kubala, Alroughani, Raed, Izquierdo, Guillermo, Ozakbas, Serkan, Patti, Francesco, Onofrj, Marco, Lugaresi, Alessandra, Terzi, Murat, Grammond, Pierre, Grand’Maison, Francois, Yamout, Bassem, Prat, Alexandre, Girard, Marc, Duquette, Pierre, Boz, Cavit, Trojano, Maria, McCombe, Pamela, Slee, Mark, Lechner-Scott, Jeannette, Turkoglu, Recai, Sola, Patrizia, Ferraro, Diana, Granella, Franco, Prevost, Julie ... Kalincik, Tomas (2021). Natalizumab versus fingolimod in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a subgroup analysis from three international cohorts. CNS Drugs, 35 (11), 1217-1232. doi: 10.1007/s40263-021-00860-7
2021
Journal Article
Monocyte CD14 and HLA-DR expression increases with disease duration and severity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
McGill, R.B., Steyn, F.J., Ngo, S.T., Thorpe, K.A., Heggie, S., Henderson, R.D., Mccombe, P.A. and Woodruff, T.M. (2021). Monocyte CD14 and HLA-DR expression increases with disease duration and severity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration, 23 (5-6), 1-8. doi: 10.1080/21678421.2021.1964531
2021
Journal Article
The effectiveness of natalizumab vs fingolimod – a comparison of international registry studies
Andersen, Johanna B, Sharmin, Sifat, Lefort, Mathilde, Koch-Henriksen, Nils, Sellebjerg, Finn, Sørensen, Per Soelberg, Hilt Christensen, Claudia C, Rasmussen, Peter V, Jensen, Michael B, Frederiksen, Jette L, Bramow, Stephan, Mathiesen, Henrik K, Schreiber, Karen I, Horakova, Dana, Havrdova, Eva K, Alroughani, Raed, Izquierdo, Guillermo, Eichau, Sara, Ozakbas, Serkan, Patti, Francesco, Onofrj, Marco, Lugaresi, Alessandra, Terzi, Murat, Grammond, Pierre, Grand Maison, Francois, Yamout, Bassem, Prat, Alexandre, Girard, Marc, Duquette, Pierre ... Magyari, Melinda (2021). The effectiveness of natalizumab vs fingolimod – a comparison of international registry studies. Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, 53 103012, 103012. doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2021.103012
2021
Journal Article
NMOSD and MS prevalence in the Indigenous populations of Australia and New Zealand
Bukhari, Wajih, Khalilidehkordi, Elham, Mason, Deborah F., Barnett, Michael H., Taylor, Bruce V., Fabis-Pedrini, Marzena, Kermode, Allan G., Subramanian, Sankar, Waters, Patrick, Broadley, Simon A., Bukhari, Wajih, Broadley, Simon A., Abernethy, David, Bhuta, Sandeep, Blum, Stefan, Boggild, Mike, Boundy, Karyn, Brew, Bruce J., Brilot, Fabienne, Brownlee, Wallace J., Bundell, Christine S., Butzkueven, Helmut, Carroll, William M., Chen, Celia, Clarke, Laura, Coulthard, Alan, Dale, Russell C., Das, Chandi, Dear, Keith ... Yiu, Eppie M. (2021). NMOSD and MS prevalence in the Indigenous populations of Australia and New Zealand. Journal of Neurology, 269 (2), 836-845. doi: 10.1007/s00415-021-10665-9
2021
Journal Article
Elevated levels of homocysteinesulfinic acid in the plasma of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a potential source of excitotoxicity?
Lee, Aven, Arachchige, Buddhika Jayakody, Henderson, Robert, Aylward, James and McCombe, Pamela Ann (2021). Elevated levels of homocysteinesulfinic acid in the plasma of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a potential source of excitotoxicity?. Neurodegenerative Diseases, 20 (5-6), 200-206. doi: 10.1159/000517964
2021
Journal Article
Natalizumab, Fingolimod, and Dimethyl Fumarate use and pregnancy-related relapse and disability in women with multiple sclerosis
Yeh, Wei Zhen, Widyastuti, Putu Ayu, Van der Walt, Anneke, Stankovich, Jim, Havrdova, Eva, Horakova, Dana, Vodehnalova, Karolina, Ozakbas, Serkan, Eichau, Sara, Duquette, Pierre, Kalincik, Tomas, Patti, Francesco, Boz, Cavit, Terzi, Murat, Yamout, Bassem I., Lechner-Scott, Jeannette, Sola, Patrizia, Skibina, Olga G., Barnett, Michael, Onofrj, Marco, Sá, Maria José, McCombe, Pamela Ann, Grammond, Pierre, Ampapa, Radek, Grand'Maison, Francois, Bergamaschi, Roberto, Spitaleri, Daniele L.A., Van Pesch, Vincent, Cartechini, Elisabetta ... Jokubaitis, Vilija G. (2021). Natalizumab, Fingolimod, and Dimethyl Fumarate use and pregnancy-related relapse and disability in women with multiple sclerosis. Neurology, 96 (24), E2989-E3002. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000012084
2021
Journal Article
Post-COVID opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome: a case report from Pakistan
Ishaq, Hira, Durrani, Talha, Umar, Zainab, Khan, Nemat, McCombe, Pamela and Ul Haq, Mian Ayaz (2021). Post-COVID opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome: a case report from Pakistan. Frontiers in Neurology, 12 672524, 672524. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2021.672524
2021
Journal Article
Polygenic risk score analysis for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis leveraging cognitive performance, educational attainment and schizophrenia
Restuadi, Restuadi, Garton, Fleur C., Benyamin, Beben, Lin, Tian, Williams, Kelly L., Vinkhuyzen, Anna, van Rheenen, Wouter, Zhu, Zhihong, Laing, Nigel G., Mather, Karen A., Sachdev, Perminder S., Ngo, Shyuan T., Steyn, Frederik J., Wallace, Leanne, Henders, Anjali K., Visscher, Peter M., Needham, Merrilee, Mathers, Susan, Nicholson, Garth, Rowe, Dominic B., Henderson, Robert D., McCombe, Pamela A., Pamphlett, Roger, Blair, Ian P., Wray, Naomi R. and McRae, Allan F. (2021). Polygenic risk score analysis for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis leveraging cognitive performance, educational attainment and schizophrenia. European Journal of Human Genetics, 30 (5), 1-8. doi: 10.1038/s41431-021-00885-y
2021
Conference Publication
Real-world experience with cladribine tablets in the MSBase Registry (2942)
Butzkueven, Helmut, Spelman, Timothy, Hodgkinson, Suzanne, Kalincik, Tomas, Buzzard, Katherine, Skabina, Olga, Madueño, Sara Eichau, Ayuso, Guillermo Izquierdo, Van der Walt, Anneke, Grand-Maison, Francois, Butler, Ernest, Prevost, Julie, McCombe, Pamela, Oh, Jiwon, Macdonell, Richard, Lechner-Scott, Jeannette, Van Pesch, Vincent, Duquette, Pierre, Prat, Alexandre, Girard, Marc, Kermode, Allan and Fabris, Jessica (2021). Real-world experience with cladribine tablets in the MSBase Registry (2942). 2021 AAN 73rd Annual Meeting, Virtual, 17-22 April 2021. Philadelphia, PA USA: Wolters Kluwer Health. doi: 10.1212/wnl.96.15_supplement.2942
2021
Conference Publication
MRI patterns distinguish neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder from multiple sclerosis
Clarke, Laura, Arnett, Simon, Bukhari, Wajih, Khalilidehkordi, Elham, Sanchez, Sofia Jimenez, O’Gorman, Cullen, Prain, Kerri, Woodhall, Mark, Silvestrini, Roger, Bundell, Christine, Abernethy, David, Bhuta, Sandeep, Blum, Stefan, Boggild, Mike, Boundy, Karyn, Brew, Bruce, Brownlee, Wallace, Butzkueven, Helmut, Carroll, William, Chen, Celia, Coulthard, Alan, Dale, Russell, Das, Chandi, Fabis-Pedrini, Marzena, Fulcher, David, Gillis, David, Hawke, Simon, Heard, Robert, Henderson, Andrew ... Broadley, Simon (2021). MRI patterns distinguish neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder from multiple sclerosis. AAN 73rd Annual Meeting, Online, 17-22 April 2021. Philadelphia, PA United States: Wolters Kluwer. doi: 10.1212/wnl.96.15_supplement.4128
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Pamela McCombe is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Survival and heterogeneity in Motor Neurone Disease
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Robert Henderson
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Doctor Philosophy
Studies of neurophysiology of motor neurone disease
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Robert Henderson
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Doctor Philosophy
The role of Epstein-Barr virus infection in multiple sclerosis
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Judith Greer
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Doctor Philosophy
The potential role of CXCR2 activation in motor neuron disease
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Trent Woodruff, Dr Jenny Fung, Dr John Lee
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Doctor Philosophy
The Role of Neutrophils in Motor Neuron Disease
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Trent Woodruff, Dr Jenny Fung, Dr John Lee, Dr Cedric Cui
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Doctor Philosophy
Studies of myasthenia gravis using MGBase.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stefan Blum
Completed supervision
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Defining the Clinical Phenotype of Autoantibody Associated Epilepsy
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Honorary Professor Kristen Radford
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2022
Master Philosophy
Studies of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Robert Henderson
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2018
Doctor Philosophy
Clinical and laboratory features of ALS
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Robert Henderson, Dr Aven Lee
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2017
Master Philosophy
Energy metabolism in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Assessment of body composition and energy expenditure
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Robert Henderson, Associate Professor Shyuan Ngo, Associate Professor Frederik Steyn
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2017
Doctor Philosophy
Measuring the progression of upper motor neuron disease using diffusion MRI and its correlation with Clinical phenotype
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Robert Henderson, Dr Nyoman Kurniawan, Dr Kerstin Pannek
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Pathogenesis of Guillain-Barre syndrome and chronic inflammatory polyradiculoneuropathy
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Judith Greer
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2012
Doctor Philosophy
Biomarkers of Motor Neurone Disease : Neurophysiological studies of lower motor degeneration
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Robert Henderson
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2007
Doctor Philosophy
EXAMINATION OF SURFACE-RECORDED MOTOR UNITS AND A NEW APPROACH TO MOTOR UNIT NUMBER ESTIMATES
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Judith Greer
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2003
Doctor Philosophy
IMMUNOSUPPRESSION IN EXPERIMENTAL AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS
Principal Advisor
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Multimodal evaluation of autoimmune encephalitis in Queensland
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stefan Blum
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Asymmetry and Vulnerability in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Robert Henderson
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2013
Doctor Philosophy
Molecular analysis of the motor neuron disease-associated protein, TDP-43
Associate Advisor
Media
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