Every year, MND Australia awards PhD scholarship top-up grants to promising early career researchers in the field of motor neurone disease. These grants help to encourage these researchers to focus their talents on developing cures, treatments and better models of care for people living with motor neurone disease. 

For 2025, MND Australia is delighted to announce two PhD scholarship top-up recipients. A huge congratulations to Anastasiya Potapenko and Yi Ling Clare Low for their success in this recent grant round.  

Anastasiya Potapenko | Macquarie University

In almost all people living with MND, a protein called TDP-43 malfunctions, forming toxic clumps and losing its ability to perform critical functions in cells. There is currently no way to stop or treat this, however, emerging evidence suggests that another protein called ataxin-3 may be able to help. This project will be the first to establish how the ataxin-3 protein may have beneficial effects against toxic, malfunctioning TDP-43 protein in both human cell and zebrafish models of MND. This knowledge could guide future research on a treatment for malfunctioning TDP-43, which would likely benefit most people living with MND.

Yi Ling Clare Low | The University of Melbourne

Emerging evidence suggests that small fat-storing structures in cells, called lipid droplets, may play a role in MND. This project aims to explore how changes in fat metabolism are connected to neurodegeneration and inflammation in MND using models and advanced techniques in neuroimmunology, fat metabolism, and computational biology. By mapping these changes in unprecedented detail, the project hopes to uncover new clues about the causes of MND and identify potential targets for future treatments. This research will not only improve our understanding of MND, but also help in developing better therapies for those affected by the disease.

To read about these projects, and about all research funded by MND Australia in 2025, visit the Current Research section of our website.