Dr Zita Balklava

Supervisor Details

Contact Details

Scientific Background

Research Interests

Currently, work in my lab focuses on understanding the cross-talk of membrane trafficking and cell signalling within the cell via deciphering interactions and trafficking of several membrane proteins/receptors:

Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor (FGFR): understanding how FGFR and its downstream signalling pathways regulate membrane trafficking;
Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP): dissecting physiological role of APP by studying its trafficking, the interactors of its intracellular domain and the biological consequences of these interactions.
Aquaporin 4 (AQP4): identifying the key membrane transport regulators involved in trafficking AQP4 between the plasma membrane and intracellular vesicles in response to changes in osmolarity.

Recently I have established a collaboration to study the role of Stress Granules in C. elegans Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease models.

Scientific Inspiration

My main inspiration is my father who was a scientist and a professor. He was always supportive of my goals and natural interest in biology to explore how the world works.

Research Groups

Biosciences Research Group

Aston Research Centre for Health in Ageing (ARCHA)

Supervision Style

In three words or phrases: Supportive, outcome-oriented, encouraging independency.

Provision of Teaching

I personally take responsibility for initial technical training at first but expect students to be motivated and engaged with the project from the very start by independently researching appropriate literature, methods and experimental design.

Progression Monitoring and Management

I like continuous discussion to be kept up to date with the progress and will expect to see evidence of method optimisation/data generation results on a weekly basis. I expect students to take full ownership of their progression but will be always available to discuss a plan of action together. I am here for advice and guidance to help students reach their goals.

Communication

I have an open-door policy in my office, often available outside the usual business hours and enjoy spending any available time in the lab doing experimental work myself. We will also have regular team and individual meetings to discuss and monitor progress. Whilst I expect students to keep up with my team communications I will expect then to manage their work/life balance. I am available to discuss any issues that are impacting student’s ability to fulfil their potential or my/our expectations.

PhD Students can expect scheduled meetings with me:

In a group meeting

At least once per week

In year 1 of PhD study

At least once per week

In year 2 of PhD study

At least once per fortnight

In year 3 of PhD study

At least once per fortnight

These meetings will be a mixture of face to face and via video chat or telephone, and I am usually contactable for an instant response 3 or 4 days a week.

Work Pattern

Certain tasks in my lab need to occur at set times, and students need to be able to commit to a rota/timetable shared with other members of the team.

Notice Period for Feedback

I need at least 1 week’s notice to provide feedback on written work of up to 5000 words.

MIBTP Project Details

Current Projects (2025-26)

Primary supervisor for:

Decoding the Impact of Stress Response on Neurodegeneration

See the PhD Opportunities section to see if this project is currently open for applications via MIBTP.

Please Note: The main page lists projects via BBSRC Research Theme(s) quoted and then relevant Topic(s).

Decoding the Impact of Stress Response on Neurodegeneration

Secondary Supervisor(s): Dr Mariaelena Repici

University of Registration: Aston University

BBSRC Research Themes:

Understanding the Rules of Life (Neuroscience and Behaviour)
Integrated Understanding of Health (Ageing)

Project Outline

Stress granules (SGs) are dense aggregations of proteins and mRNAs appearing in the cytosol under stress conditions. They are transient and dynamic structures and play a critical role in mRNA metabolism and translational control by modulating the stress response. SG formation is transient and represents a physiological response to stress, however chronic stresses associated with aging and neurodegeneration lead to formation of persistent SGs that contribute to aggregation of disease-related proteins.

The aim of this project is to use C. elegans models for neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Parkinson’s Disease (PD)) to investigate stress response and SG dynamics role in neurodegeneration in young and aging adults. This will be achieved through the following objectives:

Objective 1: Analyse SG dynamics in C. elegans AD and PD models using fluorescently labelled SG markers. For this objective GFP-tagged SG markers TIAR-1 and GTBP-1 will be crossed into AD and PD mutant worms and SG dynamics will be analysed using fluorescence microscopy at different time points throughout the lifetime of the animals in the presence and absence of acute stress.

Objective 2: Investigate whether modulation of SG formation affects AD and PD disease phenotypes, stress response, recovery from stress, general worm fitness indicators and lifespan. This objective will be achieved by crossing loss-of-function mutations of SG key proteins TIAR-1 and GTPB-1 into mutant AD and PD worms and analysing the resulting phenotypes at different time points throughout the lifetime of the animals. Together these objectives will allow us to decode the role of stress response in AD and PD pathogenesis and potentially suggest novel therapeutics for neurodegeneration.

Key References

Wolozin, B. and Ivanov, P. (2019). Stress Granules and neurodegeneration. Nat Rev Neurosci, 11, 649-666, doi: 10.1038/s41583-019-0222-5.

Van PeltLink opens in a new window, K. M. and TruttmannLink opens in a new window, M.C. (2020). Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system for studying aging-associated neurodegenerative diseases. Translational Medicine of AgingLink opens in a new window, 4, 60-72, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tma.2020.05.001.

Co-supervisor on a project with Dr Rebecca Jones.

Previous Projects (2024-25)

Primary supervisor for:

Deciphering the role of stress response in neurodegeneration

Previous Projects (2023-24)

Primary supervisor for:

Stress granule dynamics in C. elegans neurodegeneration models

Co-supervisor on a project with Dr Cathy Slack.