Barbara Stopschinski, M.D.
Principal Investigator & Assistant Professor
Dr. Stopschinski is from Essen, Germany and graduated from Medical School at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany in 2010. During this time, she completed her medical thesis with a focus on actin nucleation at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, Germany. She then completed four years of residency training in neurology at the University Hospital in Aachen, Germany. Dr. Stopschinski joined the Diamond laboratory in the Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases here at UTSW as a postdoctoral fellow between 2015-2019, working on mechanisms of cellular tau uptake in tauopathies. She completed her residency in Neurology at UTSW in June 2023 and joined the UTSW faculty in July 2023 as an Instructor and Fellow in behavioral neurology, at which time she also started her laboratory. As a physician-scientist, Dr. Stopschinski seeks to connect basic and translational science with her work in patient care. Her research is focused on the molecular and cellular mechanisms driving tau uptake and propagation and the mechanisms connecting neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in tauopathies. Her clinical work is dedicated to patients with cognitive and memory impairment due to Alzheimer’s Disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. She also focuses on neuroinflammatory diseases such as autoimmune and viral encephalitis.
John Humphreys, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
John M. Humphreys received dual bachelor’s degrees in Biochemistry and Plant Pathology at The Ohio State University. He then earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Purdue University, where he worked on cytochrome P450s in plant secondary metabolism. A desire to integrate Structural Biology with Biochemistry brought him to the Peterson lab in the Biochemistry Dept. at UTSouthwestern to study cytochrome P450 BM3 structure/function. John then pivoted to a Postdoc / Research Scientist position with Elizabeth Goldsmith in the Dept. of Biophysics, also at UTSouthwestern. There he investigated protein kinase activity and structure, with an emphasis on using mass spectrometry to track protein phosphorylation. Currently, John is still using mass spectrometry, but now in the study of tau cellular uptake and biochemistry in relation to tauopathies and Alzheimer’s disease under Prof. Barbara Stopschinski in the Dept. of Neurology / Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases. When not in the lab, John enjoys the practical hobbies of cooking and automobile repair
Shubhangi Pandey, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Shubhangi comes from Gujarat, India where she earned a master's in microbiology and a doctorate in microbiology and biophysics from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat. While working on her doctorate, she studied growth-promoting and quality-improving aspects of biofuel formation in microalgae using biophysical tools like Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy. Shubhangi previously worked on protein biophysics and biochemistry to study membrane protein structure, folding, and aggregation. She joined Dr. Stopschinski in 2023 as her first lab member to bring together multiple disciplines of science and answer the unseen facets of neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases and their interdependency.
Saurabh Anand, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Saurabh received his integrated Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, India, in 2024. Under the mentorship of Prof. Raghavendra Kikkeri, his doctoral research focused on cell surface engineering using synthetic heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) and sialic acid proteoglycan (SAPG) mimetics. He developed expertise in the synthesis of complex molecules, including heparan sulfate derivatives and peptide conjugates, employing advanced conjugation chemistry for diverse biological applications. His work explored novel cell surface markers based on HSPGs, the modulation of cellular functions and potential therapeutic strategies. In 2024, he joined the Stopschinski lab, where his current research focuses on the role of NDST1 and LRP1 in tau uptake and propagation in cell and mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. Outside the lab, he enjoys cooking, running, and learning ways to keep my life simple..