Dr Grace Gregory is a Research Associate at the University of Manchester, specialising in the study of brain tumours caused by the tumour predisposition syndrome NF2-related Schwannomatosis (NF2). NF2 is rare. It affects about 1 in 55,000 people in the UK. People with NF2 get multiple brain, spinal, and peripheral tumours that cause life-altering symptoms such as deafness, blindness, paralysis and pain. There is no cure, and management options are limited. Her research aims to identify new therapeutic strategies for NF2 through detailed profiling of the tumour immune microenvironment of meningioma and vestibular schwannoma.

Grace completed her BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Bath and worked in neuroinflammation at the University of Oxford in the Oxford Drug Discovery Institute (ODDI). In 2025, she completed her PhD at the University of Manchester, funded by NF2 BioSolutions UK. Her doctoral research concentrated on the immune cell populations present in meningioma and vestibular schwannoma in NF2, with an emphasis on macrophage-driven inflammation. Grace and the NF2 research group in the Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centre identified an increase in macrophage density in faster growing vestibular schwannoma (Gregory et al 2024). Her PhD work contributed to several open-access publications, including articles in Neuro-Oncology Advances, Nature Communications, Brain Communications, and Clinical Immunology. Continuing at Manchester as a Research Associate (joint funded by NF2 BioSolutions UK and the Skull Base Foundation), Grace remains committed to identifying new therapeutic avenues for NF2 patients using a combination of Hyperion imaging mass cytometry and CyTOF for proteomics, bulk and single cell transcriptomic profiling, and computational deconvolution methods.

Additionally, Grace is actively involved in community engagement and outreach. She is on the board of Trustees at NF2 BioSolutions UK and also contributes to educational resources and scientific outreach for patients and families affected by the condition.