Timeline

Yolly Poon

Yolly is a Research Assistant in the Balmus lab, where she studies the neuronal defects that arise in diseases of genome instability and works on therapeutic approaches that target defective DNA repair in neurodegenerative diseases such as ataxia telangiectasia.

She has a background in biomedical science and translational research, and her work is driven by an interest in the mechanisms that drive neuronal vulnerability and the ambition to turn that understanding into treatments that reach patients.

She holds a BSc in Applied Medical Sciences from University College London (First Class Honours), where her final-year dissertation examined the interaction between mitochondria, 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.