Laura Mikél Mc Nair

Fastnet+4535326132, +4529725647
E-maillaura.mcnairsund.kudk

Blegdamsvej 3B
2200 København N
Jagtvej 160
2100 København Ø
Universitetsparken 2
2100 København Ø

Publikationer pr. år

Aktuel forskning

I am an energetic and ambitious neuroscientist applying my skills from a master's degree in pharmacy and PhD in neurochemistry at the University of Copenhagen. I contribute to research striving to identify novel drug scaffolds with relevance for psychiatric disorders by screening natural products in neurotransmitter uptake- and binding assays.

Kort præsentation

I am an enthusiastic and self-driven research scientist, with an organised work style, flexible mind-set and outgoing personality. I enjoy challenges, team-work and the pursuit of new knowledge. I have contributed to laboratory research since 2011, including two stays at excellent foreign universities. Having mastered multiple in vivo and in vitro laboratory techniques and complex data analysis approaches, I am prepared to face any new challenging research adventures.

Interesseområder

I am passionate about body and brain interactions, cellular energy and mitochondrial metabolism, neuroscience --in particular neurone-astrocyte relationship, neuroplasticity and neurotransmitter homeostasis--, cognition and memory formation, addiction and reward; (type three) diabetes; ageing.

Sprogkundskaber

Taler og skriver flydende dansk og englesk.

CV

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Current Position
May 2016 – ongoing	Post doc, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, UCPH, DK (supervisor Professor Dan Stærk) Project (2019-ongoing): "Identifying novel drug scaffolds with relevance for psychiatric disorders by screening natural products in neurotransmitter uptake- and binding assays” Project (2016-2018) in collaboration with industry partner: “Investigate the mechanisms underlying improved shelf-life of fermented milk-products”. [Maternity leaves 15 Nov 2017 - 10 Aug 2018 (9 months) & 01 Mar 2020 - 28 Feb 2021 (12 months)]
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Other Current Responsibilities
Mar 2019 – ongoing Mar 2021 – ongoing 2016 – ongoing	Steering Committee member of the Social Capital Committee, University of Copenhagen, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology PostDoc/Assistant prof. forum contact person, University of Copenhagen, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology PharmaDanmark Club steering committee member, , University of Copenhagen, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology
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Education
Feb 2013 – Apr 2016	PhD student, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, UCPH, DK (supervisor Professor Helle S. Waagepetersen) Dissertation: “Region Specific Evaluation of Cellular Metabolism in the Brain – Implications of Different Metabolic Mapping Strategies in Combination with NMR and GC-MS” COURSE WORK – Data Visualisation, Project Management, Neuroanatomy of the Laboratory Animal, Responsible Conduct of Research, University Pedagogy, Neuron Glia Interactions, NMR Techniques in Drug Research, and multiple scientific summer schools. TEACHING – Pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, biochemistry.
Sep 2013 – Sep 2014	Postgraduate Fellow, Department of Diagnostic Radiology/MRRC, Yale University, New Haven, USA Project: “Elucidating astrocyte-specific metabolic rates in multiple brain regions”
Sep 2010 – Sep 2012	M. Sc. Pharmacy, UCPH, DK Thesis: “Investigating the neural consequences of prenatal nicotine exposure”
Jul 2011 – Jan 2012	Research exchange student, University of Bath, UK Project: “Exploring the role of learning and memory in drug addiction”
Sep 2006 – Sep 2010	B. Sc. Pharmacy, UCPH, DK
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Work Experience
Oct 2012 – Jan 2013	Manager, Global Pharmacovigilance, Ferring Pharmaceuticals A/S, Copenhagen, DK
2007 – 2011	Student, Ferring Pharmaceuticals A/S, Copenhagen, DK
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Company Name

Cause

Newly founded committee established to enhance social capital at our department - We will the coming months be defining focus areas together with our colleagues and facilitate that new initiatives will be put in place.

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Current Position
May 2016 – ongoing	Post doc, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, UCPH, DK (supervisor Professor Dan Stærk) Project (2019-ongoing): "Identifying novel drug scaffolds with relevance for psychiatric disorders by screening natural products in neurotransmitter uptake- and binding assays” Project (2016-2018) in collaboration with industry partner: “Investigate the mechanisms underlying improved shelf-life of fermented milk-products”. [Maternity leaves 15 Nov 2017 - 10 Aug 2018 (9 months) & 01 Mar 2020 - 28 Feb 2021 (12 months)]
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Other Current Responsibilities
Mar 2019 – ongoing Mar 2021 – ongoing 2016 – ongoing	Steering Committee member of the Social Capital Committee, University of Copenhagen, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology PostDoc/Assistant prof. forum contact person, University of Copenhagen, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology PharmaDanmark Club steering committee member, , University of Copenhagen, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology
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Education
Feb 2013 – Apr 2016	PhD student, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, UCPH, DK (supervisor Professor Helle S. Waagepetersen) Dissertation: “Region Specific Evaluation of Cellular Metabolism in the Brain – Implications of Different Metabolic Mapping Strategies in Combination with NMR and GC-MS” COURSE WORK – Data Visualisation, Project Management, Neuroanatomy of the Laboratory Animal, Responsible Conduct of Research, University Pedagogy, Neuron Glia Interactions, NMR Techniques in Drug Research, and multiple scientific summer schools. TEACHING – Pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, biochemistry.
Sep 2013 – Sep 2014	Postgraduate Fellow, Department of Diagnostic Radiology/MRRC, Yale University, New Haven, USA Project: “Elucidating astrocyte-specific metabolic rates in multiple brain regions”
Sep 2010 – Sep 2012	M. Sc. Pharmacy, UCPH, DK Thesis: “Investigating the neural consequences of prenatal nicotine exposure”
Jul 2011 – Jan 2012	Research exchange student, University of Bath, UK Project: “Exploring the role of learning and memory in drug addiction”
Sep 2006 – Sep 2010	B. Sc. Pharmacy, UCPH, DK
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Work Experience
Oct 2012 – Jan 2013	Manager, Global Pharmacovigilance, Ferring Pharmaceuticals A/S, Copenhagen, DK
2007 – 2011	Student, Ferring Pharmaceuticals A/S, Copenhagen, DK
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Kommentarer til publikationsliste

My latest (unpublished) results comprise the identification of compounds isolated from Eremophila species, capable of both potentiating and inhibiting the transport of dopamine through the dopamine transporter (DAT). I am currently seeking to characterise these compounds further and elucidate the mechanism by which they exert their action.

During my PostDoc with Professor Dan Stærk (2016-2019), conducted in tight collaboration with a food company, we identified and characterized a new antifungal peptide in fermented milk product containing bioprotective Lactobacillus cultures (McNair et al. 2018 FEMS Yeast), and established that competitive exclusion is a major bioprotective mechanism of Lactobacilli against Fungal Spoilage in Fermented Milk Products (Siedler et al. 2020 Appl Environ Microbiol).

Supervision of students during my PostDoc allowed me to contribute to excellent natural product research by Dr. Abd Malik, identifying novel antidiabetic zanthones in extracts of an endophyte (Malik et al. 2020 Fitoterapia), and by Maliheh Najari Beidokhti, highlighting the antidiabetic potential of ethanolic extracts of P. guajava leaves using multiple assays (Beidokhti et al. 2020 J Ethnopharmacol).

The work from my PhD (2013-2016) include thorough characterisation of cellular energy metabolism in acutely isolated hippocampal and cerebral cortical mouse brain slices using ¹³C-mapping, GC-MS and HPLC (McNair et al. 2017 Neurochem Res) and provides evidence of metabolic similarity of these two brain regions. Moreover, I propose new interesting approaches for interpreting ¹³C-mapping data. This work was followed-up by evaluating the specificity of ¹³C-substrates for assessing astrocytic and neuronal metabolism individually in acute brain slices (Andersen, McNair et al. 2017 J Neurosci Res). Other parts of my work in acute brain slices have contributed to a recent review discussing the role of glutamate dehydrogenase and amino transferases in connection to glutamate oxidation in astrocytes (McKenna, Stridt, McNair et al. 2016 J Neurosci Res).

As part of my PhD I also completed two large rodent ex vivo studies combining ¹³C-mapping with GC-MS and ¹³C/¹H NMR, in collaboration with excellent researchers at Yale University and Harvard Medical School (USA), respectively. I reveal significant brain regional differences in the rate of pyruvate carboxylase, an astrocytic enzyme essential for de novo synthesis of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate (manuscript in progress). Furthermore, I provide data suggesting that the glutamate transporter GLT-1 expressed in neurons is important for glutamate homeostasis and synaptic energy metabolism in cerebral cortex (McNair et al. 2019 J Neurosci). Additional studies extend this hypothesis to the hippocampus and striatum (McNair et al. 2020 NERE)

Results from my undergraduate research (2011-2012) at Bath University (UK) provide indications of differential changes in neural plasticity induced by addictive drug exposure with and without the context of a place-preference learning task, measured as long-term potentiation in hippocampal slices. This work was presented on scientific poster at the British Pharmacology Society meeting in 2012 and my data formed the basis for further work within Prof. C. Bailey's group.

Finally, my Master’s thesis elucidates the significant impact of pre-natal exposure to nicotine on brain function, measured as calcium responses to glutamatergic stimulation in brain slice from pubs born of nicotine treated mice (McNair & Kohlmeier 2015 J Dev Orig Health Dis).

Emneord

Det Sundhedsvidenskabelige Fakultet

395 Citationer
13 Tidsskriftartikel
1 Konferenceabstrakt til konference

Stable isotope tracing reveals disturbed cellular energy and glutamate metabolism in hippocampal slices of aged male mice
McNair, L. M., Andersen, J. V. & Waagepetersen, H. S., 2023, I: Neurochemistry International. 171, 10 s., 105626.
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2 Citationer (Scopus)

14 Downloads (Pure)
Biodiscoveries within the Australian plant genus Eremophila based on international and interdisciplinary collaboration: results and perspectives on outstanding ethical dilemmas
Semple, S., Stærk, D., Buirchell, B., Fowler, R., Gericke, O., Kjaerulff, L., Zhao, Y., Pedersen, H. A., Petersen, M. J., Rasmussen, L. F., Bredahl, E. K., Pedersen, G. B., McNair, L. M., Ndi, C., Hansen, N. L., Heskes, A., Bayly, M., Loland, C. J., Heinz, N. & Møller, B. L., 2022, I: Plant Journal. 111, 4, s. 936-953 15866.
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40 Downloads (Pure)
Rates of pyruvate carboxylase, glutamate and GABA neurotransmitter cycling, and glucose oxidation in multiple brain regions of the awake rat using a combination of [2-¹³C]/[1-¹³C]glucose infusion and ¹H-[¹³C]NMR ex vivo
McNair, L. M., Mason, G. F., Chowdhury, G. M. I., Jiang, L., Ma, X., Rothman, D. L., Waagepetersen, H. S. & Behar, K. L., 2022, I: Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. 42, 8, s. 1507–1523
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11 Citationer (Scopus)
Antidiabetic xanthones with α-glucosidase inhibitory activities from an endophytic Penicillium canescens
Malik, A., Ardalani, H., Anam, S., McNair, L. M., Kromphardt, K. J. K., Frandsen, R. J. N., Franzyk, H., Stærk, D. & Kongstad, K. T., 2020, I: Fitoterapia. 142, 8 s., 104522.
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

42 Citationer (Scopus)
Competitive Exclusion Is a Major Bioprotective Mechanism of Lactobacilli against Fungal Spoilage in Fermented Milk Products
Siedler, S., Rau, M. H., Bidstrup, S., Vento, J. M., Aunsbjerg, S. D., Bosma, E. F., McNair, L. M., Beisel, C. L. & Neves, A. R., 2020, I: Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 86, 7, 14 s., ARTN e02312-19.
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63 Citationer (Scopus)

16 Downloads (Pure)
Conditional Knockout of GLT-1 in Neurons Leads to Alterations in Aspartate Homeostasis and Synaptic Mitochondrial Metabolism in Striatum and Hippocampus
McNair, L. F., Andersen, J. V., Nissen, J. D., Sun, Y., Fischer, K. D., Hodgson, N. W., Du, M., Aoki, C. J., Waagepetersen, H. S., Rosenberg, P. A. & Aldana, B. I., 2020, I: Neurochemical Research. 45, s. 1420–1437 18 s.
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

19 Citationer (Scopus)
Evaluation of the antidiabetic potential of Psidium guajava L. (Myrtaceae) using assays for α-glucosidase, α-amylase, muscle glucose uptake, liver glucose production and triglyceride accumulation in adipocytes
Beidokhti, M. N., Eid, H. M., Villavicencio, M. L. S., Jäger, A. K., Lobbens, E. S., Rasoanaivo, P. R., McNair, L. M., Haddad, P. S. & Stærk, D., 17 apr. 2020, I: Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 257, 8 s., 112877.
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

31 Citationer (Scopus)
Deletion of neuronal GLT-1 in mice reveals its role in synaptic glutamate homeostasis and mitochondrial function
McNair, L. F., Andersen, J. V., Aldana, B. I., Hohnholt, M. C., Nissen, J. D., Sun, Y., Fischer, K. D., Sonnewald, U., Nyberg, N., Webster, S. C., Kapur, K., Rimmele, T. S., Barone, I., Hawks-Mayer, H., Lipton, J. O., Hodgson, N. W., Aoki, C. J., Rosenberg, P. A. & Waagepetersen, H. S., 2019, I: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 39, 25, s. 4847-4863
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45 Citationer (Scopus)

Laura Mikél McNair

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Aktuel forskning

Kort præsentation

Interesseområder

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Stable isotope tracing reveals disturbed cellular energy and glutamate metabolism in hippocampal slices of aged male mice

Biodiscoveries within the Australian plant genus Eremophila based on international and interdisciplinary collaboration: results and perspectives on outstanding ethical dilemmas

Rates of pyruvate carboxylase, glutamate and GABA neurotransmitter cycling, and glucose oxidation in multiple brain regions of the awake rat using a combination of [2-¹³C]/[1-¹³C]glucose infusion and ¹H-[¹³C]NMR ex vivo

Antidiabetic xanthones with α-glucosidase inhibitory activities from an endophytic Penicillium canescens

Competitive Exclusion Is a Major Bioprotective Mechanism of Lactobacilli against Fungal Spoilage in Fermented Milk Products

Conditional Knockout of GLT-1 in Neurons Leads to Alterations in Aspartate Homeostasis and Synaptic Mitochondrial Metabolism in Striatum and Hippocampus

Evaluation of the antidiabetic potential of Psidium guajava L. (Myrtaceae) using assays for α-glucosidase, α-amylase, muscle glucose uptake, liver glucose production and triglyceride accumulation in adipocytes

Deletion of neuronal GLT-1 in mice reveals its role in synaptic glutamate homeostasis and mitochondrial function