Dr Maria Stavrou is an Honorary Consultant Neurologist and Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, where she co-leads the Edinburgh MND Service. She is a co-investigator on the MND-SMART adaptive platform trial, with a particular role in drug prioritisation, trial development and delivery.

 

Her research focuses on understanding mechanisms of motor neuron dysfunction in ALS and translating these discoveries towards new treatments. Supported by an MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship and subsequent University of Edinburgh College of Medicine Bridging Fellowship, she identified a previously unrecognised mechanism by which ALS astrocytes disrupt motor neuron mitochondrial bioenergetics and axonal transport. 

Her current work combines human stem-cell models, therapeutic target discovery and drug screening with clinical trial development, with the aim of accelerating promising therapeutic approaches from the laboratory towards evaluation in people with MND.