
We are delighted to announce that Daniel Saarela has been awarded a competitive two year postdoctoral fellowship by the Hamburg based NCL Foundation. The fellowship will support Daniel’s research in the Sammler lab, where he will leverage innovative approaches to advance our understanding of lysosomal dysfunction in Batten disease, a group of rare and devastating neurodegenerative disorders that affect predominantly children. He will receive additional support from Professor Peter van Hasselt, a clinical expert on paediatric metabolic and lysosomal storage disorders at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.
Daniel will elucidate molecular mechanisms underlying Batten disease with the aim of identifying potential biomarkers and therapeutic strategies. His research will build on his PhD work under the supervision Dario Alessi, where he developed the tagless LysoIP as a powerful tool for studying lysosomal biology in clinical samples. As part of his fellowship, Daniel will also collaborate with Professor Rimona Weil and Professor Huw Morris at University College London (UCL) to investigate lysosomal dysfunction in Lewy body dementia, further broadening the impact of his research.
This work aligns with the MRC PPU’s mission to leverage fundamental research to address pressing biomedical challenges. The NCL Foundation is dedicated to accelerating research towards a future without childhood dementia!
Daniel commented “'I am so grateful for the award and the support I have received from both Dr. Sammler and Prof. Alessi. I am very excited to continue working on Batten disease and the Tagless LysoIP.'” Esther Sammler said “I am absolutely delighted for Daniel and can’t wait for him to get started on this exciting project in 2025!”