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Hazel Hall-Roberts

Dr Hazel Hall-Roberts

Research Associate, Dementia Research Institute

School of Medicine

Email
Hall-RobertsH@cardiff.ac.uk
Campuses
Hadyn Ellis Building, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ

Overview

I am a postdoctoral research associate in the UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff, and I manage their stem cell facility and the IPMAR project. My research focusses on the role of microglia in neurodegenerative diseases, specifically Alzheimer's disease, using stem cell models.

Previously, as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Dr Sally Cowley/Prof William James in the University of Oxford (2016-2020), I was trained in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) culture and differentiation to macrophage and microglia cell types. In collaboration with the Alzheimer's Research UK Oxford Drug Discovery Institute, I studied the impact of single genetic risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer's disease upon microglia cell phenotype. I then moved to the UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff University to head an ambitious project under Prof Julie Williams, generating new iPSC lines from Alzheimer's disease patients with high levels of polygenic risk, and studying their phenotypes when differentiated to iPSC-microglia-like cells.

Watch an animation I made explaining the importance of microglia in Alzheimer's disease in YouTube

Publication

2023

2022

2021

Articles

Biography

Education:

BSc (hons) Biochemistry with Year in Industry, first class, University of Bristol (2012)

PhD in Biochemistry, University of Bath (2016)

Professional memberships

British Neuroscience Association

Academic positions

  • 2020-present: Postdoctoral Research Associate, UK Dementia Research Institute, Cardiff University
  • 2016-2020: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology & Oxford Drug Discovery Institute, University of Oxford