Pauline Chandon

MSc research project at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health | University College London (2026-04 – 2026-08)

Investigating serotonin modulation of glucocorticoid-induced gene expression using human neuronal models:

• Culturing SH-SY5Y cells and differentiation of KOLF2.1J iPSCs into hypothalamic neurons
• CRISPR-Cas9 editing of SH-SY5Y cells to knockout serotonin and glucocorticoid receptors
• Small molecule treatments: glucocorticoid and serotonin treatments of both cellular models
• Molecular biology: RNA and protein isolation, qPCR, WB, and immunocytochemistry to assess the effect of the KO on cells and their resulting phenotype
• Data analysis: GraphPad, ImageJ

Internship at Centre for Integrative Genomics | University of Lausanne (2025-01 – 2025-02)

Collaborated on multiple projects, including:

• Lamin proteomics: Investigated proteins associated with the nuclear lamina in a tissue-specific manner
• Human insulator project: Improving the DNA construct that allows for screening of enhancer-blocking insulators in Drosophila
• UASz-eGFP project: Enhancement of the UAS plasmid to create a UASz plasmid with an expanded specificity spectrum

Internship at Centre for Mechanochemical Cell Biology | Warwick Medical School (2023-06 – 2023-08)

• Investigation of the activation mechanism of the molecular motor KIF1C
• Generation of mammalian expression constructs and introducing point mutations
• Transfection of DNA into mammalian cells
• Live cell imaging to determine the localisation of motors and motility of cargoes

Master of Science in Cell, Gene and Novel Therapies – University College London (2025-09 – 2026-09)

Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences – University of Geneva (2021-09 – 2024-06)