Dr Jasmin Galper

Dr Jasmin Galper, Postdoctoral Researcher, The University of Sydney.

Dr Jasmin Galper holds a Bachelor of Science majoring in biomedical science and neuroscience from the University of Queensland. On graduating, Jasmin was awarded the Dean’s Commendation for Academic Excellence. Jasmin completed Honours at the Clem Jones Centre for Aging and Dementia research at the Queensland Brain Institute and earned the Best Honours Seminar Presentation Award in her cohort. Jasmin has worked as a research assistant investigating neuroinflammation at the University of Queensland, and subsequently at the Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research at Macquarie University in Sydney. Jasmin attained a PhD in 2022 at the dementia and movement Disorder (DAMD) Lab at the University of Sydney, where the focus of her research was lipid and inflammatory biofluid markers of Parkinson’s disease.

Forefront Group:

  • BMC DAMD Parkinson’s disease Research Group

Expertise:

  • Biomarkers
  • Inflammation
  • Lipids

Affiliate Organisations:

Neuroscience Theme, Charles Perkins Centre, Brain and Mind Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney

Neurodegeneration of interest:

Parkinson's disease and dementia

Specific Skills:

  • Medical Scientist
  • Lipodomics
  • ELISA/flow cytometry
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Cell culture
  • Western blotting
  • Inflammatiion/Neurodegerative disease
  • Neuroanatomy

Projects:

Serum and cerebrospinal fluid lipids in pre-clinical and clinical Parkinson’s disease.

The Australian Parkinson’s Mission: an Australian-led international collaboration between the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Shake It Up Australia Foundation, the University of Sydney, the Cure Parkinson’s Trust (UK), Michael J Fox Foundation (USA) and Parkinson’s Australia.

Research Project Objectives

Investigating inflammatory and lipid markers in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of Parkinson’s disease patients. Markers will be examined in genetic and sporadic Parkinson’s disease and in patients at a high risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. (2018-2022).

Challenges within the field

A major challenge in the Parkinson’s disease field is the lack of biomarkers that could aid in Parkinson’s disease clinical trials.

Research Project Description

Inflammatory markers in Parkinson’s disease plasma: A panel of inflammatory markers were investigated with ELISAs and fluorometric assays. Inflammatory markers were compared between those with and without Parkinson’s disease and those with and without mutations in the Parkinson’s disease risk gene GBA.

Lipid markers in Parkinson’s disease serum and cerebrospinal fluid: Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to measure serum and cerebrospinal fluid lipidomes. Lipid markers were compared between those with and without Parkinson’s disease and those with and without mutations in the Parkinson’s disease risk gene LRRK2.

Key Publications from this project

  • Galper J, Dean NJ, Pickford R, Lewis SJ G, Halliday GM, Kim W S, and Dzamko N. Lipid pathway dysfunction is prevalent in patients with Parkinson's disease. Brain. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awac176
  • Galper J, Balwani M, Fahn S, Waters C, Krohn L, Gan-Or Z, Dzamko N, Alcalay RN. Cytokines and Gaucher Biomarkers in Glucocerebrosidase Carriers With and Without Parkinson Disease. Mov Disord. 2021 Feb 11. https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.28525. PMID: 33570220.

Infographic / Medical Diagram / Scientific Diagram / Picture

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Key Findings

Lipid pathway dysfunction is prevalent in patients with Parkinson’s disease