Profile
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Sophie Gould
PhD Student
Geoffrey Pope Lab 201
Geoffrey Pope Building, University of Exeter , Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK
Overview
I am an ecotoxicology PhD student in the Charles Tyler lab group. My main research interests include the following:
- The effects of pharmaceuticals, particularly antidepressants, on aquatic organism health.
- The use of a transgenic zebrafish models, in combination with a variety of imaging modalities to reveal drug-induced effects.
Qualifications
2014 - 2017: BSc Zoology, University of Exeter
Career
2017 - Present: PhD Researcher, University of Exeter
Research group links
Research
Research projects
Project Title: Integrated health effects analysis of antidepressants inhibiting serotonin and/or norepinephrine reuptake using zebrafish models.
Supervisors: Professor Charles Tyler and Dr Matthew Winter
Funding Body: MSD and University of Exeter
Project Description:
- Assess the bioavailability and subsequent behavioural-induced effects of a range of widely prescribed antidepressants that are detected in the environment using zebrafish larvae as a model species.
- Conduct a chronic exposure to investigate the physiological and behavioural effects of the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline on zebrafish early life stages.
- Utilise a transgenic zebrafish model, in combination with light sheet microscopy, to identify neural circuits affected by exposure to these antidepressant drugs. This work will also involve the introduction of fictive stimuli to capture how exposed larvae respond, on a neurological basis, to perceived threats using projections on an LED screen.
Research networks
Profession memberships:
- Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
- Fisheries Society of the British Isles
- Society of Toxicology
- Royal Society of Chemistry