Conceição Bettencourt works in the field of neuro-epigenetics. She studies the involvement of disrupted molecular pathways and DNA methylation in neurodegenerative diseases using human post-mortem brain tissue. She is research fellow of the Alzheimer's Research UK and co-leads the Genetics and Omics Working Group of the international Deep Dementia Phenotyping (DEMON) network.
Education and career
Bettencourt studied Biology and Human Genetics at the University of the Azores, where she conducted her PhD on "Machado-Joseph disease: from genetic variability to clinical heterogeneity". She then trained as a postdoc in Spain and the Netherlands.
Significant publications
Murthy, Megha; Cheng, Yun Yung; Holton, Janice L.; Bettencourt, Conceição (December 2021). "Neurodegenerative movement disorders: An epigenetics perspective and promise for the future". Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology. 47 (7): 897–909. doi:10.1111/nan.12757. PMC 9291277. PMID 34318515.
Bettencourt, Conceição; Foti, Sandrine C.; Miki, Yasuo; Botia, Juan; Chatterjee, Aparajita; Warner, Thomas T.; Revesz, Tamas; Lashley, Tammaryn; Balazs, Robert; Viré, Emmanuelle; Holton, Janice L. (January 2020). "White matter DNA methylation profiling reveals deregulation of HIP1, LMAN2, MOBP, and other loci in multiple system atrophy". Acta Neuropathologica. 139 (1): 135–156. doi:10.1007/s00401-019-02074-0. PMC 6942018. PMID 31535203.