Proclamation of Nanna MacAulay as Doctor of Medical Sciences
Professor Nanna MacAulay from Department of Neuroscience attends the University of Copenhagen’s CoVid19-reduced yearly festivities to have her Doctor of Medical Sciences degree ‘proclaimed’ by Rector Henrik Wegner.
Wars and pandemics may cause cancellation of the prestigious yearly festivities at University of Copenhagen. IIWW and the ‘Spanish disease’ in 1918 as the most recent examples – until now.
Nanna MacAulay's Doctoral thesis addressed the molecular mechanisms of water transport in various brain cells, such as cerebrospinal fluid secretion across the choroid plexus, ion/water transport mechanisms in the blood-brain-barrier, activity-evoked glia cell swelling, and dendritic beading during cortical spreading depression. The conclusion of the thesis is that transmembrane water movements in the brain rarely rely on aquaporins (as they are either not present or not required for the given fluid movement), but rather employ the novel concept of 'cotransport of water'.