Rate My Professor Jenna Gregory

Professor Jenna Gregory is a Clinical Professor of Pathology in the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition at the University of Aberdeen. She completed her preclinical medicine studies at the University of St Andrews, followed by clinical training and a PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2011, where her thesis investigated the role of TDP-43 aggregation in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia with ubiquitin inclusions (FTD-U). She obtained her MBChir from Cambridge in 2013, an MSc in Clinical Trials from the University of Edinburgh in 2016 with a thesis on identifying neuroprotective interventions for motor neuron disease, and an MMedSci in Molecular Pathology from Edinburgh in 2017. A Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath), Gregory trained in pathology at Edinburgh, serving as a SCREDS clinical lecturer from 2018 to 2022. In 2022, she joined Aberdeen as a Consultant Pathologist with NHS Grampian and Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Medical Sciences, advancing to Clinical Chair in 2024. She also leads the NHS Grampian Biobank and Tissue Repository since 2023.

Gregory's research centers on the molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly ALS and motor neurone disease, utilizing patient tissues and biofluids to uncover molecular drivers of disease heterogeneity, diagnostic targets, progression markers, and therapeutic opportunities. Her investigations target early pathological changes in non-central nervous system tissues like the gastrointestinal tract and skin, extra-motor symptoms including cognitive dysfunction, neuroinflammation, and molecular crowding. Notable publications include 'RNA aptamer reveals nuclear TDP-43 pathology is an early aggregation event' (Spence et al., Acta Neuropathologica, 2024), 'Protein misfolding enteropathy predicts and prognosticates neurodegenerative disease' (Langerová et al., Gastroenterology, 2026), 'Spatial transcriptomics identifies spatially dysregulated expression of GRM3 and USP47 in ALS' (Gregory et al., Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 2020), and contributions to the MND-SMART trial protocol, the first adaptive multi-arm platform trial for motor neuron disease. She has garnered significant funding, such as the Target ALS Foundation Award ($1,000,000, 2022–2024), NIH Transformative Research Award ($8,400,000, 2021–2026), MRC Equipment Grant (£610,839, 2023), Motor Neurone Disease Association Grant (£200,000, 2022–2024), and others from MND Scotland, Royal Society, and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Her work advances precision medicine and early detection strategies in neurodegeneration.