As part of the third-year Final Honours School (FHS) examinations in Medical Sciences, all students are expected to undertake a research project. I elected to undertake a project in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences examining the distribution of iron in the spinal cords of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). While most research in this field focuses on the MS plaque, focal lesions typical of the disease, I chose to explore areas outside these plaques, which had largely been overlooked.

Through this work, we discovered that higher iron deposition outside of plaques correlates with a specific marker of axonal injury, indicating oxidative damage to nerve fibres. These findings may provide new insights into how iron deposition contributes to nerve cell death (neurodegeneration) and disability in MS.

I was thrilled to learn that my FHS project was judged as the best submitted this year by examiners and bought to the attention of the Physiological Society, Europe’s largest and oldest network of physiologists. Being awarded the Undergraduate Prize for Physiology 2024 is a tremendous honour. I am sincerely grateful for the support of my tutors at Christ Church and the De Luca lab. As I now move into the clinical phase of my medical degree, I look forward to continuing research in the lab alongside my studies.