FLAG Researcher Spotlight: Dr Samantha Murray

Dr Samantha Murray

“What I love about neuroscience is that there is always something new to learn. The brain is so complex, and the possibilities are endless.”

Please tell us who you are, your institution, and your title

I was recently appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Sciences at Lincoln University, where I have been a post-doc for the past 6 years.

Tell us a little about yourself and your research interests

My primary research focus is on neurodegenerative diseases and using sheep as pre-clinical models to trial potential therapies. During my PhD at the Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, I studied Huntington’s disease (HD), specifically investigating neuropathology in a sheep model of HD. I am now working with sheep models of Batten disease, a rare inherited neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects children. Our lab is working on gene therapies to treat Batten disease and have had success in treating one form of the disease in our sheep, leading to the initiation of a clinical trial.

How did you become involved with neuroscience? What is it that you love about your field?

I’ve been fascinated by the brain since I was young, as my brother has a brain injury, and I have always wanted to understand how the brain works in different conditions. This led me to study neuroscience at the University of Otago, knowing I wanted to get into research. What I love about neuroscience is that there is always something new to learn. The brain is so complex, and the possibilities are endless. Also, there are so many opportunities to collaborate with others in the field who study the brain in a different way or a different context and do something new and interesting outside of your niche.

How do you balance the challenges and rewards of being a researcher?

Celebrating the small wins and not taking anything for granted. There will always be setbacks in research, but it’s important to remember the bigger picture and why you are doing the work you are doing. Also, a wise Professor (Faull) often says “there are no challenges, only opportunities”.  A rejection of a manuscript is an opportunity to improve it; a failure of an experiment is an opportunity to learn something new and try again.

What advice would you give to young researchers just starting out in the field?

Do the scary thing – approach that professor at a conference, apply for that scholarship you don’t think you’ll get, go to that networking event by yourself – you never know what might come out of it.

If people want to contact you, how should they do so? Do you have any social media profiles people can follow?

You can contact me by email; samantha.murray@lincoln.ac.nz. I am also on Linkedin; https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-murray

Interviewed by: Lily Bentall (PhD Student, University of Otago)