Jingyi (Wendy) Wu
Wendy is a Research Assistant in the Balmus Lab, focusing on DNA mismatch repair in Huntington’s disease.
They graduated from University College London (UCL) with first-class honours in Biomedical Sciences. Their final-year research project explored calcium signalling and oxidative stress in Vici syndrome, a rare neurodegenerative disorder.
They first joined the Balmus Lab as a summer placement student, investigating mitochondrial DNA depletion in POLG-mutant neurons. They subsequently completed an MPhil at the University of Cambridge, studying mitochondrial signalling and neuronal metabolism during a critical period of development in Drosophila melanogaster.
Their research interests include age-associated disorders, genome instability, and mitochondrial biology.itochondria, lysosomes and lipids in a Parkinson's disease model. She went on to an MPhil in Translating Medical Device and Advanced Therapy Research at the University of Cambridge, completing both the degree and her dissertation with distinction. Her dissertation, carried out in the Balmus lab, tested rescue strategies for mitochondrial defects in iPSC and iPSC-derived neuronal models, after which she continued in the lab in her current role.
