Rate My Professor Anastazja Gorecki

Anastazja Gorecki is a Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle. She earned her PhD from the University of Western Australia in 2023, with a thesis on the role of the gut in Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis conducted at the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science. Her doctoral research identified novel findings regarding α-synuclein pathology in the gut wall, including genetic associations with gut homeostasis, localization of α-synuclein in specific gut cells, influences of microbial metabolites, and the therapeutic potential of the peptide R18D. Gorecki holds a BSc (Hons) from the University of Western Australia, majoring in Neuroscience and Human Biology & Anatomy. During her PhD, she gained experience in clinical and pre-clinical research and was selected as a Fulbright Future Scholar in 2021, spending four months at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine learning techniques to grow and study intestinal organoids.

Her research interests focus on the gut-brain axis, particularly in the context of Parkinson’s disease and alpha-synuclein, as well as the effects of microplastics on the gut, nutrition, modifiable lifestyle factors affecting physical and mental health, and the intersection between human health and environmental sustainability. Gorecki has published several key papers, including first-author works: “TLR2 and TLR4 in Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis: the environment takes a toll on the gut” (Translational Neurodegeneration, 2021), “The gut-brain axis and gut inflammation in Parkinson’s disease: stopping neurodegeneration at the toll gate” (Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets, 2020), “Single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with gut homeostasis influence risk and age-at-onset of Parkinson's disease” (Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2020), and “Altered gut microbiome in Parkinson’s disease and the influence of lipopolysaccharide in a human α-synuclein over-expressing mouse model” (Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2019). She received the University of Notre Dame Australia Early Career Researcher Award in 2023. In her teaching role, she covers Neuroscience, Neurological and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Gastroneuroenterology, and Academic Research and Writing. Her current projects involve collaborations with the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute on microplastics and gut-brain axis implications in neurodegeneration.