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Contact Details

Phone
64 3 479 7618
Email
beulah.leitch@otago.ac.nz

University Links

Position
Professor
Department
Department of Anatomy
Qualifications
BSc(Hons) PhD
Research summary
Cellular and molecular neuroscience; neurological disorders
Memberships
  • 2010–present – The Royal Society of New Zealand (MRSNZ)
  • 2007–present – The International Brain Research Organization (IBRO)
  • 1995–present – The Society for Neuroscience USA (SFN)
  • 2007–present – The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS)
  • 2008–present – The British Neuroscience Association (BNA)
  • 2008–present – The Australian Neuroscience Society (ANS)
  • 2007–present – The Brain Health Research Centre University of Otago (BHRC)
  • 2009–present – The Society for Neuroscience, SFN Otago Chapter

Research

Professor Leitch's research interests are in cellular and molecular neuroscience and focus on the structural and functional development of neurons and their synapses; also changes occurring at synapses during aging and in various brain disorders. She is particularly interested in how altered synaptic proteins resulting from genetic mutations cause functional abnormalities underlying brain disorders such as epilepsy and associated comorbid behavioural and psychiatric disorders.

Another focus of her research is on the synthesis of new proteins at synapses during synaptic plasticity and how altered local protein synthesis may contribute to synaptic dysfunction and cognitive deficits underlying degenerative brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.Exploring the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic dysfunction in neural networks is fundamental to understanding many brain disorders and developing future treatment strategies.

Professor Leitch has an international reputation for using cutting-edge, high-resolution EM imaging techniques for the detection of proteins at synapses. She has been an invited research scientist to several distinguished, world-renowned neuroscience institutes including the California Institute of Technology, USA, the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan and the Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research, Germany.

Professor Leitch was the Director of the Neuroscience programme from February 2021 to January 2024.

Publications

Leitch, B., & Panthi, S. (2024). Parvalbumin interneuron dysfunction and absence seizures comorbidities. Epilepsia, 65(Suppl. 1), (pp. 121-122). doi: 10.1111/epi.18151 Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Leitch, B. (2024). Molecular mechanisms underlying the generation of absence seizures: Identification of potential targets for therapeutic intervention. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 25, 9821. doi: 10.3390/ijms25189821 Journal - Research Article

Leitch, B. (2024). Parvalbumin interneuron dysfunction in neurological disorders: Focus on epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease [Review]. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 25, 5549. doi: 10.3390/ijms25105549 Journal - Research Article

Panthi, S., & Leitch, B. (2024). Chemicogenetic activation of feed-forward inhibitory parvalbumin-expressing interneurons in the cortico-thalamocortical network during absence seizures. In T. C. Bienvenu, N. Hajos & F. Lanore (Eds.), Inhibitory interneuron classification, function and dysfunction in neural network. (pp. 17-34). Frontiers Media SA. doi: 10.3389/978-2-8325-4737-3 Chapter in Book - Other

Hassan, M., Grattan, D. R., & Leitch, B. (2023). Developmental inhibitory changes in the primary somatosensory cortex of the stargazer mouse model of absence epilepsy. Biomolecules, 13, 186. doi: 10.3390/biom13010186 Journal - Research Article

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