Tara Spires-Jones facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Professor
Tara Spires-Jones
DPhil FMedSci
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2019 by Sparatires
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| Born |
Tara Spires
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| Alma mater | University of Texas at Austin University of Oxford |
| Known for | Researching mechanisms of synapse degeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neuroscience |
| Institutions | Massachusetts General Hospital
Harvard Medical School University of Edinburgh |
| Thesis | Genetic and epigenetic interactions in activity-dependent cortical plasticity. (2003) |
Professor Tara Spires-Jones is a top scientist who studies brain diseases. She works at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. There, she helps lead a center that discovers new things about the brain. Her main work is understanding how brain cells get damaged in diseases like Alzheimer's disease.
Contents
Becoming a Scientist
Early Studies
Tara Spires-Jones started her university studies at the University of Texas at Austin in the United States. In 1999, she earned two degrees: one in biochemistry (which is about the chemistry of living things) and another in French.
Studying in the UK
After that, she won a special scholarship called the British Marshall Scholarship. This allowed her to go to the University of Oxford in the UK. There, she earned her PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in 2004. Her research focused on how the environment affects the tiny connections between brain cells, called synapses.
Researching Alzheimer's
After her PhD, Dr. Spires-Jones moved to the United States. She worked at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. For several years, she was a research fellow, then an instructor, and later an assistant professor. During this time, she focused on studying how synapses break down in Alzheimer's disease.
In 2013, Professor Spires-Jones moved back to Scotland to join the University of Edinburgh. She became a full professor there in 2017.
Helping the Science Community
Professor Spires-Jones is very active in the science world. She is part of many important groups, like the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS)-KAVLI Network. She also advises Alzheimer's Research UK, a charity that funds research into Alzheimer's.
From 2023 to 2025, she served as the president of the British Neuroscience Association. This is the main group for brain scientists in the UK. In 2024, she was chosen as a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences. This is a big honor for medical scientists.
She also helps people understand science better. She works with the Science Media Centre, which helps journalists report on new science stories accurately.
Understanding Brain Diseases
Professor Spires-Jones's research looks at how brain cells get damaged in diseases that cause dementia. She especially focuses on Alzheimer's disease and how the connections between brain cells, called synapses, break down.
Amyloid and Tau Proteins
She made an important discovery about two proteins called amyloid beta and tau protein. These proteins build up in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. Professor Spires-Jones found that these harmful proteins gather inside synapses. When they do, they cause damage and lead to memory problems.
Her team was the first to show that amyloid beta and tau proteins are found in synapses in human brains affected by Alzheimer's. This was a big step forward in understanding the disease. Her work has even helped lead to a clinical trial for a new medicine. This medicine aims to remove amyloid beta from synapses in people with Alzheimer's.
How Tau Spreads
Professor Spires-Jones also found out that tau protein can spread through the brain. It moves from one brain cell to another through their connections. This spread of tau is strongly linked to how much a person's memory and thinking abilities decline. Stopping this spread could help slow down the disease.
Other Discoveries
Her research has also shown that another protein, alpha-synuclein, builds up in synapses in a disease called Dementia with Lewy bodies. This suggests that these connections might help the protein spread damage.
She has also found links between certain genes and synapse damage in Alzheimer's. Her work helps us understand other brain conditions too, like motor neuron disease and schizophrenia.
Personal Life
Outside of her scientific work, Tara Spires-Jones has a fun hobby. She is a member of the University of Edinburgh's Acapella group, where she sings tenor.
