Scholarships recognize students finding answers in Alzheimer's disease
Congratulations to Lindsay Oliver and Jennifer Au on being selected as this year’s recipients of the Masters and Doctoral Scholarships sponsored by the Alzheimer Society London and Middlesex.Oliver, a PhD Candidate in Neuroscience at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, is studying the social and emotional behaviour in those with frontal temporal dementia (FTD) with the goal of eventually finding ways to better diagnose and treat these patients. Oliver’s research looks at the effect that administering oxytocin and using emotional mimickery has on behaviour and brain activity in patients with FTD.
“I feel supremely grateful and fortunate to have received this scholarship and to be recognized by the Alzheimer Society in this way,” Oliver said. “I hope it will help shed light on this lesser-known form of dementia.”
Jennifer Au is studying the interaction between Alzheimer’s disease and stroke using an antioxidant enzyme as a therapeutic treatment. An MSc candidate in the department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, Au hopes her research will provide the groundwork for possible preventative and therapeutic treatments that will delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in affected individuals.
“The Alzheimer Society is an organization that is very close to my heart and to be acknowledged in this manner is amazing,” Au said. “I can only hope to make a difference in people’s lives the way the Alzheimer Society does on a daily basis.”
Oliver will receive $30,000 over two years, and Au will receive $15,000 over one year to continue their research. They were selected by a panel of associate deans who reviewed the applications and ranked the candidates based on academic achievement, relevance of the research to Alzheimer’s disease and written recommendations of referees.
Congratulations!
