Dr Bertram continues to apply in vitro electrophysiological and molecular biological techniques to study cell-level function in healthy brains and in models of neurophysiological disease. He has worked on single and multi-site projects including an MRC & Parkinson's UK funded study into the mechanisms of medication side-effects in Parkinson's disease, and an Alzheimer's Research UK funded study into synaptic changes in inherited forms of dementia.
Dr Bertram was awarded LIFE Research Starter Award to study the role of parvalbumin-positive interneurons in dementia. Dr Bertram has a background in the intersection between psychology and neuroscience, having completed a bachelor's degree in Psychology and received a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Sheffield (2007 and 2011 respectively). Their work has encompassed several aspects of the control and learning of skilled movement, and its dysfunction in neurological conditions.
Moving from an undergraduate grounding in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, he completed a PhD examining the activity of collicular input to dopamine neurons, before working under Prof Tony Prescott and Dr Tom Stafford on how human participants learned to move around with the aid of a new source of sensory information. He returned to neurophysiology during a postdoctoral position at Emory University, Atlanta, GA, under Prof Dieter Jaeger, where he helped expand the techniques used in the lab to include in vivo blind whole cell patch clamping, freely moving eletrophysiological recordings, and automated behavioural testing. He continued to develop his skills in neurobiology at the University of Central Lancashire working to establish brain slice whole cell patch clamp electrophysiology, and manage and genotype several transgenic colonies.
Now a lecturer and independent researcher, Dr Bertram is establishing new research directions, including invertebrate models of neurobiology, and methods to support scientific thinking and writing in undergraduate students.
