Rate My Professor Margaret Ryan

Dr Margaret Ryan serves as Senior Research Fellow and Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Anatomy, School of Biomedical Sciences, at the University of Otago. She holds a BSc (Hons) and PhD. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory, particularly how memory-related brain regions are affected in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Utilizing molecular approaches including bioinformatics, qPCR, microarrays, sequencing, Western blotting, cell culture, and animal models, she investigates gene networks and pathways associated with memory formation, storage, and pathology. Recent projects explore the therapeutic potential of neuroprotective peptides from soluble amyloid precursor protein-alpha for Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, as well as the role of small RNA molecules like microRNAs in disease development. She is a member of the Neuroscience Research Group and contributes to the Brain Health Research Centre at the University of Otago.

Dr Ryan has received funding from the Neurological Foundation, including a grant in 2014 to support brain research. Her publications include Mockett, B. G., & Ryan, M. M. (2023). The therapeutic potential of the neuroactive peptides of soluble amyloid precursor protein-alpha in Alzheimer’s disease and related neurological disorders. Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology, 139, 93-101; Cawood, S. M. F., Williams, J. M., Ryan, M. M., Harrison, O. K., & Russell, B. R. (2024). Preliminary findings that Ketamine increases GABA levels in the amygdala two hours post infusion in people with treatment resistant anxiety (conference verbal presentation); Sweetman, E., et al. (2019). Changes in the transcriptome of circulating immune cells of a chronic fatigue syndrome cohort. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 236; Mackay, A., et al. (2018). A novel neuroinflammatory paradigm for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (conference abstract); and contributions to studies on microRNAs in anxiety disorders and ketamine interventions (2022-2024 conference proceedings). She has presented at events such as Queenstown Research Week, Brain Health Research Centre Annual Conference, and Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research. Dr Ryan's work addresses the urgent need for treatments amid rising Alzheimer's cases in New Zealand.