Nicole Rudi is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge, UK. She graduated in 2023 from University College London with a First Class BSc in Biochemistry with a Year in Industry. During her industrial placement, she worked in the Immunology Research Unit at GSK under the supervision of Dr Robert Dinsdale and Dr James Hockley. Her project investigated the effects of pro-inflammatory compounds on sensory neurons using the microelectrode array system, in the context of chronic pain conditions. This industrial experience inspired her to pursue a PhD in pharmacology with Dr David Bulmer, focusing on chronic pain and the neuroimmunology of gastrointestinal diseases, particularly inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome. Her doctoral research investigates the signalling mechanisms of the cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) peptide and its role in nociception. To achieve this, she employs electrophysiological techniques including Ca²⁺ imaging, patch clamp, and colon-innervating afferent recordings. Her PhD is conducted in collaboration with Metrion Biosciences, providing specialist training in patch clamp techniques. Additionally, in August 2024, she further advanced her technical expertise at the Cell Physiology Workshop in Liverpool. Nicole is excited to present her research at the WCP this year.

Jackson received a Bachelor’s of Pharmaceutical Science (Advanced Honours) from Monash University in 2021. Under the supervision of A/Prof Gregory, Jackson’s Honours project used genetically encoded biosensors to characterise mGlu5 negative allosteric modulation of non-canonical signalling mechanisms. He commenced his doctoral studies in 2022, supervised by A/Prof Gregory, Dr Hellyer and Dr Langiu. Jackson uses diverse pharmacological and rodent behavioural techniques to investigate the complex landscape of mGlu5 signaling within the context of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Our group uses patch clamp electrophysiology to investigate presynaptic mechanisms in synaptic transmission. In particular, we are interested in modulation of presynaptic calcium channels and G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) in disease conditions, with work on pain, bipolar disorder, epilepsy and ataxia. We are also investigating the effect of psychedelic drugs in pain. We investigate molecular determinants of ion channel and receptor modulation in native neurones and recombinant cells and synaptic transmission in mammalian cerebellum and hippocampal brain slices. We have previously investigated plant derived cannabinoids as therapeutic agents.

Dr Hellyer is an EMCR researcher at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and it Deputy lab head of the Neuropharmacology lab within Drug Discovery Biology. His works focuses on the molecular pharmacology of GPCRs involved in neurophysiology and neuropathophysiology. In particular, Dr Hellyer is interested in the impact of single nucleotide variants found in patients populations, how they contribute to disease aetiology and how they potentially affect drug action on through changing receptor function. Dr Hellyer has published 21 peer reviewed journal articles and 1 book chapter, acting as a Chief Investigator on competitive grants worth $1.4 million.

Shreyash Santosh Yadav is a Ph.D. Research Scholar in the Laboratory of Molecular NeuroTherapeutics at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Raebareli, India. His research focuses on how metabolic and psychological stressors converge to disrupt synaptic plasticity, with a specific emphasis on MMP-9-mediated cleavage of nectin-1 and nectin-3 in hippocampal and prefrontal circuits. He has worked extensively across behavioural neuroscience, neuropharmacology, molecular biology, nanotechnology-based drug delivery, and neuropathology, collaborating on multidisciplinary projects involving AD, PD, metabolic stress, and CNS tissue architecture. He has co-authored publications in journals such as ACS Chemical Neuroscience, ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, ChemistrySelect, Food Bioscience, and Acta Biomaterialia, and contributed to high-impact translational and structural neuroscience studies (including a manuscript under review at Nature Neuroscience). His work includes first-author or equal-contribution papers on neurodegeneration, diabetes therapeutics, biomimetic drug-delivery systems, and the nectin interactome. He has also contributed to a validation study of Clara Mater: The 4th meningeal layer in the human CNS. Shreyash is a recipient of multiple accolades, including an EMCR Travel Grant, an ISN, IBRO, and ANRF-supported Travel Award, and a 3rd Position Oral Presentation at ICRANND-2025, MLSU, Udaipur, India, as well as the Best Oral Presentation Award at ICNAND-2023, Madhya Pradesh, India. His broader skill set encompasses stereotaxic surgery, immunofluorescence and confocal imaging, qRT-PCR, Western blotting, behavioural assays, cell culture, LC-MS/MS pharmacokinetics, and AI/data science-assisted analytics.

Dr. Ashish Kakkar is a faculty member in the Department of Pharmacology at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India. His research interests include clinical trials, infectious diseases, neuropharmacology, and drug safety. He holds MBBS and MD from University of Delhi and DM in Clinical Pharmacology from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He completed advanced training in biostatistics and clinical epidemiology through Harvard Medical School’s Global Clinical Scholars Research Training Program, graduating with distinction in Clinical Trials. Dr. Kakkar is a Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society and serves on the editorial boards of national and international journals. He has contributed to National Formulary of India and National List of Essential Medicines. He is Member Secretary of the Institutional Ethics Committee at PGIMER. Actively involved in mentoring, he also participates in multicentre collaborative studies, including early-phase drug development, product development, and antimicrobial optimization research.