Leanne Jiang

Research Officer

Ngo Group

leanne.jiang@uq.edu.au

Leanne is researching mitochondrial dynamics in iPSC-derived models of Motor Neurone Disease (MND)

Leanne Jiang graduated from the University of Western Australia (UWA) in 2017 with a BSc Neuroscience Honours.

In 2018, she began a PhD under the inaugural BioZone program at UWA supervised by A/Prof Jennifer Rodger (WA), Prof Anthony Akkari (WA), Prof Alan Harvey (WA), Prof Merrilee Needham (WA), and A/Prof Shyuan Ngo (QLD). Her PhD thesis investigated aberrant mitochondrial dynamics in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In Perth, Leanne focussed on clinical aspects of ALS, identifying genetic polymorphisms, and designing antisense oligonucleotide therapeutics.

In 2021, Leanne began a year long research visit at the AIBN to investigate mitochondrial dynamics in iPSC-derived lower motor neurons using live-cell imaging techniques.

From late 2022, Leanne is continuing her investigation into the relationship between mitochondria and toxic protein clumps, and methods to manipulate or prevent toxic aggregation leading to motor neuron death.

Industry

Seelos Therapeutics (USA)

AEZS (USA)

Collaborations

Perron Institute (WA)

Qiao Group (UQ, AIBN)

Wolfram Group (UQ, AIBN)

Key Publications

1. Jiang, L and Ngo, S.T. “Altered TDP-43 Structure and Function: Key Insights into Aberrant RNA, Mitochondrial, and Cellular and Systemic Metabolism in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis”. 2022. Metabolites, 12(8), 709.

2. Tracey, TJ., Jiang, L., … Ngo, S.T. “Generation of a human induced pluripotent stem cell line (UQi001-A-1) edited with the CRISPR-Cas9 system to carry the heterozygous TARDBP c.1144G>A (p.A382T) missense mutation”. 2023. Stem Cell Resources, 70, 103137.

3. Theunissen, F., …Jiang, L … Akkari, P.A. “Structural Variants May Be a Source of Missing Heritability in sALS”. 2020. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 14, 47.

4. Pytte, J., … Jiang, L., … Akkari, P.A. “Association of a Structural Variant within the SQSTM1 gene with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis”. 2020. Neurology: Genetics, 6(2).

Featured projects	Duration
Metabolism and skeletal muscle pathology in MND	2015–2025
Developing models to understand and treat MND using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)	2018–2025
Pre-clinical studies to decipher the causes of, and treatments for MND	2012–2025
In vivo and in vitro axonal transport investigations in diverse models of MND/ALS	2023–2026