Institute of Continuing Education (ICE)
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Evan Reid has undergraduate degrees in Medicine and Science, a PhD in Medical Genetics, is an accredited specialist in Clinical Genetics and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. He is also Fellow of St Edmund's College, Cambridge. He has a longstanding research in the genetics, clinical features and cell biology of disorders of axonal degeneration, on which he has published extensively. In his clinical work he specialises in genetic neurological disorders.
My research is focused on understanding the molecular pathology of the hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs). These are genetic conditions in which the axons of the corticospinal motor pathway degenerate, so their study enables precise identification of proteins that are critical for axonal health. I aim to understand the normal functions of HSP proteins and how disruption of these functions causes axonal degeneration. Many of the disease proteins function in membrane traffic processes, especially at the endoplasmic reticulum and at endosomes. My work concentrates on understanding the functions of this membrane traffic subgroup of HSP proteins.
I primarily focus on understanding the normal and pathological functions of spastin, a microtubule severing enzyme encoded by the gene most commonly mutated in HSP. This protein is also implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's dementia, so understanding its function is of importance to common disease. Uniquely amongst microtubule severing enzymes, spastin functions at membrane sites, including endosomes and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), where it couples microtubule severing to membrane modelling processes. My research is unravelling the mechanistic and functional roles of spastin at these locations, as it does so providing novel insights into both the causes of HSP and the purpose of microtubule severing in cells. We are systematically examining the relevance of our finding to neurons and axons. We are also exploring the relationship between spastin’s functions and that of other HSP proteins, where we are beginning to identify unifying pathological mechanisms.
Member of Scientific Advisory Board for United States Spastic Paraplegia Foundation, 2007- 2014.
Member of the "Cells" Theme Panel of the Biochemical Society, 2011-2014.
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
Fellow of St Edmund's College, Cambridge
