Matthew G. Williamson

Matthew is providing Samsara with the most cutting-edge, physiologically and disease relevant neuronal cellular models. He develops assays in different neuronal cell populations derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patients diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Funded by the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA), Matthew completed his DPhil at the University of Oxford, where he investigated the protective function of antioxidant proteins and their use as therapeutic targets in ALS. Following this, he undertook postdoctoral training in the Wade-Martins’ laboratory of molecular neurodegeneration. Working closely with industrial collaborators (Forma Therapeutics, Evotec, Celgene, Bristol Myers Squibb), his research investigated mitophagy dysfunction in PD. He also has a wealth of experience in high-content imaging, liquid handling and developing automated high-throughput cell-based assays.