Meet the PI

Eleanna earned her MD from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, followed by an MSc in Neuroscience and a PhD in Neurogenetics from University College London (UCL) in the United Kingdom under the supervision of Sir Prof. John Hardy and Prof. Henry Houlden. She continued her research training as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital in the lab of Prof. Brad Hyman. Afterwards, she moved to Switzerland where she started her neuropathology residency in Prof. Adriano Aguzzi’s lab at the University Hospital Zurich and completed her residency at Queen Square/University College London Hospital in the United Kingdom. She also completed a clinical fellowship in bone and soft tissue pathology at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in the United Kingdom. Throughout her clinical training, she remained active in basic science research by working as a postdoc in Profs Adriano Aguzzi’s and John Hardy’s labs at the University of Zurich and UCL, respectively. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath) in Diagnostic Neuropathology, as well as a European Fellow in Neuropathology (EFN). Her postdoctoral research has been funded by long term fellowships from European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP).

Dr. Kara’s research focuses on understanding the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease, with a particular focus on the mechanisms involved in a-synuclein propagation and formation of inclusions. She recently published a seminal paper on the first genome-wide, high throughput screen for a-synuclein propagation. Her lab uses high throughput screens and -omics and develops genetically encoded tools to study the networks involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases), with the ultimate aim being to develop combination treatments for those devastating diseases.

09/2011-11/2014: PhD in Neurogenetics, University College London, United Kingdom

09/2010-09/2011: MSc in Clinical Neuroscience, University College London, United Kingdom

09/2004-07/2010: MD, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

09/2023-: Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

01/2020-08/2023: HFSP Long Term Fellow (postdoc), University College London, United Kingdom, John Hardy lab

01/2018-12/2019: HFSP Long Term Fellow (postdoc), University of Zurich, Switzerland, Adriano Aguzzi lab

11/2014-12/2017: EMBO Long Term Fellow (postdoc), Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, Brad Hyman lab

01/2013-03/2013: Visiting PhD student, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA, Andrew Singleton lab

11/2010-11/2014: PhD and MSc student, University College London, United Kingdom, John Hardy/Henry Houlden labs

06/2022-06/2023: Clinical Fellow, Bone and Soft Tissue Pathology, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, United Kingdom

01/2020-06/2022: Neuropathology and Anatomic Pathology Resident, University College London Hospitals, United Kingdom

01/2018-12/2019: Neuropathology Resident, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland

12/2022-: Certificate for Completion of Postgraduate Clinical Training in Neuropathology, Swiss Society of Neuropathology/Swiss institute for Postgraduate and Continued Medical Education

12/2022-: Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (Diagnostic Neuropathology), Royal College of Pathologists, United Kingdom

06/2022-: European Fellow in Neuropathology, European confederation of Neuropathological Societies

2018-2020: HFSP Long Term Fellowship (LT001044/2017)

2018-2019: Wilhelm Hurka Foundation project grant (Switzerland)

2015-2016 EMBO Long Term fellowship (ATLF 815 2014)