Louise Serpell

Louise Serpell
Born	Louise Charlotte Serpell Brighton, East Sussex, England
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of Nottingham (BSc) University of Oxford (DPhil)
Known for	Research on amyloid protein structure in neurodegenerative diseases
Title	Professor of Biochemistry
Scientific career
Fields	Biochemistry, Structural biology
Institutions	University of Sussex
Thesis	Structural Studies of Amyloid Proteins  (1996)
Doctoral advisor	C. C. F. Blake

Louise C. Serpell MAE is a British biochemist , structural biologist and neuroscientist. She is Professor of Biochemistry Emerita in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Sussex and was Director of Sussex Neuroscience until May 2025.

Early life and education

Serpell was born in Brighton, East Sussex, England. From 1989 to 1992 she studied at the University of Nottingham, graduating with a single-honours degree in Biochemistry and Genetics. She then undertook doctoral research in the Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics at the University of Oxford, completing her DPhil in 1996.

Career

From 1996 to 1997, Serpell was a postdoctoral research assistant at the Centre for Research into Neurodegenerative Diseases at University of Toronto with Dr P. E. Fraser. She subsequently worked as an independent research associate at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge from 1997 to 2000. ^[1] Between 2000 and 2003 she held a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellowship at the University of Cambridge, before joining the University of Sussex in 2003 as a Wellcome Trust Fellow. She was appointed Reader in Biochemistry in 2006 and promoted to Professor of Biochemistry in 2010. ^[2] In 2019, she became Director of Sussex Neuroscience, a research centre within the School of Life Sciences at the University of Sussex. ^[3]

Research

Serpell’s research focuses on the structural characteristics of amyloidogenic proteins and their role in the pathology of neurodegenerative and protein misfolding diseases. ^[4] She has worked on the structural biology of fibrous molecules, including studies that reported the molecular structure of amyloid fibrils. ^[5] Her research spans molecular biophysics, cell biology, neuroscience and high-resolution imaging. ^[6]

Editorial roles

Serpell is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Molecular Biology , ^[7] Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, the Biochemical Journal , ^[8] and the Amyloid . ^[9]

Selected awards and honors

• Red Magazine's Pioneer of the Year (2013) ^{[10] [11]}
• University of Sussex Impact Award (2016) ^[12]
• Member of the Academia Europaea (2021) ^[13]

References

1. "LMB Alumni List". MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.
2. "Louise Serpell". University of Sussex.
3. Armstrong, John. "Serpell Lab : School of Life Sciences : University of Sussex". University of Sussex.
4. Williams, Thomas L.; Serpell, Louise C.; Urbanc, Brigita (March 2016). "Stabilization of native amyloid β-protein oligomers by Copper and Hydrogen peroxide Induced Cross-linking of Unmodified Proteins (CHICUP)". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Proteins and Proteomics. 1864 (3): 249–259. doi:10.1016/j.bbapap.2015.12.001.
5. Rambaran, Roma N.; Serpell, Louise C. (2008). "Amyloid fibrils: abnormal protein assembly". Prion. 2 (3): 112–117. doi:10.4161/pri.2.3.7488. ISSN   1933-690X.
6. "Research-led teaching at School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex - Study International". studyinternational.com. 6 November 2018.
7. "Editorial board - Journal of Molecular Biology". ScienceDirect.com.
8. "Editorial Board | Biochemical Journal". Portland Press.
9. "Editorial board". Taylor & Francis.
10. "Sussex Alzheimer's researcher becomes Red Magazine's pioneer of the year". The Argus. 3 December 2013.
11. "Red's Hot Women Awards". Red Online. 3 December 2013.
12. "Psychology and Neuroscience research : Explore our research : Research at Sussex". University of Sussex.
13. "Academy of Europe: Serpell Louise". Academy of Europe.