Anastassia Voronova, Ph.D.

Area of Study / Keywords

Neural Stem Cells Multiple Sclerosis Neurodevelopmental disorders Regenerative Medicine

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About

Academic Degrees and Training:

B.Sc. - Tallinn University of Technology (2005)

M.Sc. - Tallinn University of Technology (2007)

Ph.D. - University of Ottawa (2012), Heart and Stroke Foundation Doctoral Student

Postdoctoral degree - The Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto (2017), CIHR and Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada research fellow

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Research

The presence of resident neural stem and precursor cells in the adult human central nervous system has inspired the development of new therapeutic approaches for brain regeneration in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases. Before we can engage adult neural stem cells for brain regeneration, we need to understand how neural stem cells are regulated. 

In my lab, we use animal and primary cell culture models to answer how neural stem cells build and repair the brain. Specifically, we are investigating how neural stem cells are regulated by: 1) Ankrd11, an epigenetic regulator involved in KBG neurodevelopmental syndrome and autism spectrum disorder; and 2) local environment in the neural stem cell niche.

Our goal is to use the lessons learned from normal brain development to design novel therapies for neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders. In this light, we are investigating the effect of developmentally important molecules on neural precursors in normal and injured adult murine brain. We are using mouse models of KBG Syndrome (neurodevelopmental disorder) and Multiple Sclerosis (neurodegenerative disorder) as pre-clinical models for engagement of neural stem cells for brain regeneration and repair.

Fabrice Plaisier, Cristóbal Ibaceta-González, Hasni Khelfaoui, Adrianne E. S. Watson, Corinne Poilbout, Anastassia Voronova, María Cecilia Angulo

Nature Communications. 2025 December; 10.1038/s41467-025-66309-3

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Nicole Leanne Dittmann, Lauren Chen, Anastassia Voronova

Journal of Neurochemistry. 2025 January; 10.1111/jnc.16287

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Kibalnyk Y, Afanasiev E, Noble RMN, Watson AES, Poverennaya I, Dittmann NL, Alexiou M, Goodkey K, Greenwell AA, Ussher JR, Adameyko I, Massey J, Graf D, Bourque SL, Stratton JA, Voronova A

Nature communications. 2024 July; 10.1038/s41467-024-48955-1

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Goodkey K, Wischmeijer A, Perrin L, Watson AES, Qureshi L, Cordelli DM, Toni F, Gnazzo M, Benedicenti F, Elmaleh-Bergès M, Low KJ, Voronova A

BMC medicine. 2024 April; 10.1186/s12916-024-03363-6

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de Almeida MMA, Watson AES, Bibi S, Dittmann NL, Goodkey K, Sharafodinzadeh P, Galleguillos D, Nakhaei-Nejad M, Kosaraju J, Steinberg N, Wang BS, Footz T, Giuliani F, Wang J, Sipione S, Edgar JM, Voronova A

Stem cell reports. 2023 January; 10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.12.001

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Yutong Li, Nicole Leanne Dittmann, Adrianne Eve Scovil Watson, Monique Marylin Alves de Almeida, Tim Footz, Anastassia Voronova

ASN Neuro. 2022 January; 10.1177/17590914221086340

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Stem cell reports. 2021 July; 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.06.010

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Neuroscience letters. 2019 October; 10.1016/j.neulet.2019.134533

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